She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is essentially a delightful sitcom with superheroes and villains. The show follows Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk, as she balances her life as a lawyer with being a Hulk. One element of She-Hulk’s comics that carries over into the television series is her penchant for breaking the fourth wall. We see her do this fairly quickly in the She-Hulk: Attorney at Law’s first episode and it will hopefully continue throughout the series. So, in honor of Jennifer Walters acknowledging our existence as viewers, let’s take a look at every time she breaks the fourth wall in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
Jump to: Episode 1 // Episode 2 // Episode 3
Jennifer Walters talks directly to the camera after a conversation with her co-workers, which initially looks like she’s talking to us. She runs her closing argument by them for a case she’s working on before her paralegal Nikki casually mentions her being a Hulk. Jennifer then turns directly to viewers to confirm this news, saying that she will get us up to speed so we can properly focus on “this fun lawyer show.” This is where we get her origin story of Bruce’s blood dripping into her open wound following a car accident, causing her to be a Hulk.
After much fighting and arguing during Jennifer’s unwilling “training to be a Hulk session,” Bruce begrudgingly decides that he is okay with letting Jen resume her life. She turns to us once again, saying “he doesn’t mean that” to Bruce’s annoyance and surprise.
We come back to Jen once again as she affirms she went back to her life, revealing the truth to Nikki and her family. According to her, Bruce was wrong and she was right about being able to balance being a Hulk and an attorney at law. The lawyer show is back but things quickly go awry in the courtroom when Titania causes Jennifer to reveal her She-Hulk powers.
Jen is with Nikki at their local watering hole and about to enter a bar/room with dozens of people chanting She-Hulk. As we know, she isn’t thrilled about the name but, as Nikki says, she has to “give the people what they want.” Before entering, Jen gives us a hilarious “sigh” of a look.
Jen gets the surprise of her life with a job offer to work at GLK&H. But her excitement quickly fades when she realizes that they didn’t hire her, but rather She-Hulk to be the face of their new superhuman law division. She feels like a freak on display (and that’s fair) and gripes about why they brought her on.
Jen calls up Bruce to let him know that she’s taking on Abomination’s case. He says he’s fine with it because he too is a different person now. Bruce congratulates her and she looks into the camera for a quick “ha.” This one kind of has a double meaning. First, Jen is probably a bit skeptical that he is totally cool with this idea. But the bigger ha is that Hulk is literally a different person. As we know Edward Nashton was originally in the role before Mark Ruffalo took it over.
But wait, there’s more. Abomination escaped from prison after talking to Jen and was videoed in some sort of fight club. She ends the episode by saying “that sucks.” And yeah, she’s right.
No one is more hype about Jennifer having powers than her dad. She’s outside lifting a vehicle while he directs her cousin on how to fix a tire issue. Jen doesn’t talk to us but instead gives us the briefest glance of exasperation ever.
Yes, Jen knows we cannot wait to see Wong. Again. That’s why she literally takes her hands off the wheel to lean over and chat with us directly. She assures us that this won’t be a cameo every week type of show. But…so far… it is. And that’s totally cool because we know it is She-Hulk’s show.
Jen jokes to the camera about how her A story of defending Abomination and the B story with Dennis and him supposedly thinking he was dating Megan Thee Stallion (lollll) comes together perfectly. Pug shows up while she’s having drinks with Nikki and asks how the heck they were able to deal with Dennis being, well, Dennis.
After Dennis winning his case (and a delightful appearance from Megan Thee Stallion), Jennifer is shocked that Pug gave her an idea. But shhhh that realization will stay between us.
We can assume that we will see more fourth wall breaking in the future from “regular” Jennifer Walters as well as She-Hulk. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law director Kat Corio said in a recent interview that these fourth wall breaks will not only address the viewer but perhaps even MCU overseer Kevin Feige. And, it seems that She-Hulk’s moments will connect to something deeper on the other side of that broken wall. “…there’s something else out there that she’s connecting to that hopefully we get a chance to see,” affirmed Corio. What does that mean? We will have to wait and see. One thing is for sure, though. We will be back each week to tally up any time Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk fully acknowledges that we are watching this fun lawyer show.
Originally published on August 18, 2022.
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