Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law series is the hilarious new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and with it comes the typical MCU fanfare—meaning fans are looking for deeper meaning in a lot of what is happening in the show. From Bruce’s bar and his connection to both Tony Stark and Steve Rogers (with Bruce’s initials carved into said bar alongside T. S.) to the less obvious Easter eggs, there are plenty of little things for fans to pick up on and talk about.
But in season 1 episode 2, titled “Superhuman Law,” we get to see Jennifer connecting to the Marvel world in an even more relatable way—like we would relate to the MCU if we were really living in it. I’m talking about random jokes that seem to take a knock at The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, Jen’s phone background, and the news articles on her computer. So let’s get into this a bit!
**Spoilers for the first two episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law lie ahead.**
In the first episode of the series, a lot of our “Easter eggs” were things around the house in Mexico that Bruce was living in. We could see hints of movies from the MCU’s past, and then we saw the ship from Sakaar that caused Jen and Bruce’s fateful car accident in the first place. But in the second episode, there are lots of other little hints that just make the series fun at large. And then there are heavy-handed jokes, like making it clear that the series is poking fun at the recasting of Edward Norton with Mark Ruffalo.
A completely different guy
One of the best bits in this episode is when Jen has to call Bruce to talk about this case she has to take. Sure, it’s setting up what feels like World War Hulk, and everyone is focusing their energy there, but it is also hilarious given what she’s talking to Bruce about. We see him still as Smart Hulk (meaning he hasn’t fixed the device that keeps his Hulk form at bay yet), and he’s talking to Jen while she’s rambling and clearly trying to stall, bringing up her new job and the case she’d have to take in order to accept it.
When she finally tells Bruce that she’d have to help Emil Blonsky get out of prison, Bruce assures her that it’s fine and that he’s not holding any sort of grudge against him. In fact, he says, “That fight was so many years ago, I’m a completely different person now. Literally,” to which Jen responds “ha-ha” to the camera.
This is of course referring to the fact that Edward Norton was Bruce Banner in the movie that brought the Abomination into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the only standalone Hulk movie we’ve gotten in the MCU. By the time The Avengers rolled around, we had a recast Bruce in Mark Ruffalo, and we just kept moving on (much like how the MCU did with Terrance Howard being recast as Don Cheadle).
So this little tongue-in-cheek joke is perfect for a show like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and is genuinely funny given the Hulk’s journey from The Incredible Hulk on (and the lack of calling back to that movie that we’ve seen in the MCU as a whole).
America’s ass
Ah yes, the conversation about Steve Rogers continues. This one is just funny and relatable because Jennifer checks her phone when she was talking with Nikki, and we see a text message from her mother reminding her about dinner. But we also get to see Jen’s phone background, which is actually just a zoomed in picture of America’s ass. (Meaning Steve Rogers’ backside.)
It’s so much of just his ass that the picture doesn’t even have his head, which then did take me too long to realize what it was. But can’t really fault Jennifer for it. We’ve all been there, and if we lived in the world of these heroes? Probably would also still have Chris Evans’ backside on our phones.
It’s in the news
Now this is the one that eagle-eyed fans instantly spotted. On the side of Jen’s computer in the news article that she was looking at, we see two headlines that are of importance, one being: Man fights with metal cals in bar brawl. So, you know, Wolverine. Or at least that’s what the internet jumped to. Because we don’t know where the X-Men are or what the deal is with them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, this sort of easter egg is either a hint or just them poking fun, and either way, I love it.
The second comes from Eternals and is something I’ve seen yelled about on TikTok a lot from people who think that Eternals didn’t already explain this. The headline reads: Why is there a giant statue of a man sticking out of the ocean. And so we have to assume that the Marvel world news is also SEO-based, right?
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She-Hulk: Attorney At Law is a comedy, so a lot of these are probably just a joke and not something to think too much about, but referencing Wolverine? In this climate?!
(featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
