She-Hulk: Attorney at Law puts the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the bar, review
She-Hulk
That it wasn't the usual Marvel Cinematic Universe series had been clear from its first trailer, but we could hardly have expected She-Hulk: Attorney at Law to overturn with this vivacity what seemed like a granite narrative structure. Although Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe proved to be a highly experimental parenthesis, thanks to the need to go beyond the limits imposed by the loss of key figures in the saga after Avengers: Endgame, previous productions, starting with WandaVision, have mitigated this. necessity with an approach that is not exactly breaking, arousing the curiosity of the spectators but still remaining within a comfort zone that is not excessive.
Subscribe now to Disney + at € 8.99 per month or 89, € 90 per year Limit that was bravely broken with She-Hulk. There could not have been a more suitable character than Jennifer Walters to break the limits of the grammar of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, looking for a new narrative balance that could shake a saga that, needless to deny, begins to feel heavily the weight of the years. While granting all the mitigating circumstances of the case to Phase Four, and waiting to see Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it is evident that this parenthesis of the saga is the weakest, where a certain opacity emerges in the construction of events and stories that can excite. Ms. Marvel had deceived with the first episodes, Moon Knight has apparently sin of lucidity in giving vivacity to a complex character and necessarily sweetened in the essence of her in order to be traced back to the most delicate vision of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Jennifer Walters breaks the Marvel Cinematic Universe
With Jennifer Walters, however, these qualms have been set aside, offering what, especially in the light of an ending magnificent, is presented, together with Werewolf by Night, the most successful experiment of Phase Four. A merit that is not only the result of a complex writing work by Jessica Gao and the team, but that has highlighted an evident criticality of the franchise, putting it in the hat along with the fans, not disdaining to throw some digs too. to the admirers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe themselves. Ironically, this break with the custom of the saga is made possible by creating what today we can consider as the most faithful transposition of a character from the House of Ideas within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.(L-R): Ginger Gonzaga as Nikki Ramos and Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk / Jennifer "Jen" Walters in Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney At Law exclusively on Disney +. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. .. 2022 MARVEL. It may be difficult, perhaps, for those who have known Avengers and other characters only in the cinema to appreciate this aspect, but this metanarrative intertwined with a reasoned breaking of the fourth wall is the legacy of one of the happiest chapters of the comic dimension of She-Hulk, The sensational She- John Byrne's Hulk. Not only because in this saga we see the much vaunted breaking of the fourth wall, but because Byrne first seems to grasp the most intimate and personal nuances of the heroine, dressing situations in which a palpable, concrete vitality emerges with humor.
(L-R): Mark Ruffalo as Smart Hulk / Bruce Banner and Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer "Jen" Walters / She-Hulk in Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, exclusively on Disney +. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. .. 2022 MARVEL.
A new beginning for the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
The value of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, net of mentioned defects, is having the courage not to limit yourself to breaking the fourth wall, but wanting to initiate a self-criticism that concerns the entire franchise. The last episode, in its second part, almost takes on the tones of a trial at the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where Jen goes from being a defender to acting as an accuser, paradoxically making herself the voice of recent fan complaints. And to do so, an ending is constructed in which every negative element, every tired repetition of the franchise is first inserted into what appears to be an out-of-control writing, only to then make this crazy spiral the vital spark of a lucid and punctual self-criticism. , capable of attacking even the untouchable Kevin Feige, starting a commendable page of writing. Also saving and, remaining on the subject, almost a desperate defensive harangue, which would like to make the viewer forget meaningless choices within the series (one above all, the presence of Titania), leaving the sly doubt about what choices are intended for give greater body to the final awareness of Marvel Studios and how much they are also the result of a shaky writing.This doubt remains in the air at the end of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which remains a strongly divisive series. Those who do not appreciate metanarrative and narrative experimentation will accuse the series of having wanted to overdo it, while others may see in this creative momentum a point of (re) departure for the new course of the franchise. As you can see, She-Hulk has nevertheless given a shock not only to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also to the way of seeing the figure of superheroines in cinematic fiction.
