Now that the teaser trailer for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has dropped, fans have plenty to be excited about for the upcoming Marvel Studios series. Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walter and titular She-Hulk will be joined by other major MCU characters who are confirmed to make appearances in the series, including Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, Tim Roth’s Abomination, and Benedict Wong’s Wong. And while the series has the potential to feature numerous cameos, there is one that viewers are surely most excited for—Charlie Cox’s Matt Murdock and Daredevil will be featured at some point in She-Hulk.
While he has yet to be officially announced, there is one place that will surely bring She-Hulk and Daredevil together in She-Hulk: the courtroom. The 9-episode comedy series is set to spend a lot of time focused on Jen Walters’ legal practice, as the subtitle, “Attorney at Law,” makes clear. The teaser trailer introduced Walters’ firm, Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, where she is the face of the firm’s superhuman law division. Matt Murdock, of course, is also a lawyer, but he doesn’t specifically focus on super-powered individuals as Jen does. Throughout the character’s history, he has practiced many kinds of law. But for the most part, Matt works as a criminal defense lawyer and sometimes takes on civil rights cases.
There seems to be little doubt that the two could meet as two attorneys, but what kind of case would bring them together? Sure, the optimist might argue that the two will work as a team to bring about justice. But the legal battlefield is much trickier than that, and what constitutes “justice” often just depends on the side that you are on. And given their shared history in the comics, all bets are on She-Hulk and Daredevil on opposing sides. In Charles Soule’s 2014 She-Hulk run, the two actually took a wrongful death suit against Captain America to court, with Matt representing the victim and Jen representing old Steve Rogers.
We know whatever case it is will be a civil case—not a criminal one—considering that neither of our heroes works for the government. Obviously, superheroes or superhumans will be involved in any case that Jen is working on, though that does not necessarily mean that non-superhero parties can’t have a significant role in the case. Assuming Matt takes on his traditional role as a defense attorney, Jen will be representing someone who is suing Matt’s client. An easy list of possible cases looks pretty simple. It could be that (a) a superhero sues a supervillain or vice versa, or (b) a civilian sues a superhero/villain or vice versa. But we can probably narrow it down further.
Matt Murdock does have a history in the comics of taking on superhero clients, but there is a strong chance that will not be the case in She-Hulk. Matt is known for looking out for the “little guy” or those who have the justice system stacked against them. So, it seems likely that Matt could be defending an ordinary civilian against a lawsuit by a more powerful superhuman represented by Jen and her firm. But what would a superhero need to sue someone over? The answer to that is pretty much endless, but since we know that She-Hulk is a comedy, it probably will not be anything too serious. In other words, the Sokovia Accords, the only KNOWN laws that apply to superheroes in the MCU, are probably off the table. The possibilities include emotional distress, defamation, unconstitutional imprisonment (that prison in the teaser trailer looks pretty intense), negligence, or fraud. While not likely to happen in a Disney+ series, Spider-Man has successfully sued J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle for Libel in She-Hulk comics. If it’s comedic and light-hearted, it doesn’t even need to be complicated. It could be as simple as a superhero suing the guy who makes their suit over the quality of said suit.
So, who could be Jen’s superclient? As mentioned, She-Hulk could have a crazy amount of cameos, so it is hard to say. There are rumors of Wong trying to sue another wizard, but presumably, the series will showcase several superpeople looking for legal advice or going to court. The teaser trailer also indicated that Jen will work with Emil Blonsky/Abomination to some extent as well. The sheer amount of possibilities makes this a difficult guess, but it would probably have the most impact if the superhuman involved is someone we know in the MCU.
Lastly, of course, which lawyer will win? In the comics case over Captain America that the two took to court, She-Hulk was the ultimate winner, though Cap pretty much set up that outcome. Still, considering it is She-Hulk’s series, that is another strong reason why we should predict her to triumph over Matt Murdock in court.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law starts streaming exclusively on Disney+ on August 17, 2022.
