Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the new limited series on Disney Plus, introduced us to Bruce Banner’s cousin Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), a lawyer who becomes a hulk when her blood is mixed with Bruce’s in a car accident. The series follows Jen as she heads up the superhuman law division at GLK&H while juggling her floundering love life and her new identity as a superhero.
But Jen isn’t the only superpowered character on the show! The series is also bursting at the seams with Marvel heroes and villains that Jen fights, flirts with, or represents in court. One scene in Episode 7 revealed one of the funnier cameos in the series: Marvel Comics villain Porcupine.
Who on Earth is Porcupine? Read on to find out!
Porcupine joins Emil Blonsky’s supervillain retreat
The next paragraph contains spoilers for Episode 7.
Emil Blonsky, also known as the Abomination, has made a pretty good life for himself post-prison. He happens to own a ranch outside of Los Angeles, and he’s turned it into a retreat center where supervillains can come and work out their aggression in a supportive environment. When Jen visits the ranch in Episode 7 to find out why Emil’s inhibitor is malfunctioning, she meets the whole gang, including one guy who’s dressed as a giant porcupine in a green mask. Porcupine is afraid to take off the mask, though, since he’s not ready to face that kind of vulnerability. Eventually he does remove it, and everyone realizes the inside of his suit stinks from all the time he’s spent inside of it.
All about the Porcupine in Marvel comics
Basically, he’s a guy who dresses like a porcupine.
Look, I’m sorry, I wish there were some deep and intriguing lore I could offer you to show why this guy’s secretly awesome, but Marvel’s been churning out comics for 83 years now, and even Stan Lee designed some C-list characters. This is why you’re meeting Porcupine as a bit character in a legal sitcom instead of in Porcupine, Porcupine: Quills of Destiny and Porcupine: The Final Poke on IMAX.
In the comics, there have been two guys who used the Porcupine moniker: Alexander Gentry and Roger Gocking. Gentry was the first Porcupine, making his debut in October 1963’s Tales to Astonish #48, and Gocking first appeared in 2006’s Daughters of the Dragon #3. Both of them are mid-level villains who go up against Marvel heroes like Ant-Man, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four. It’s worth noting that Gocking did a stint in the Thunderbolts, so who knows? Maybe Porcupine will show up again in the upcoming Thunderbolts movie. (I wouldn’t hold my breath, but stranger things have happened.)
Gentry and Gocking don’t have superpowers themselves. Instead, all the power lies in the porcupine suit, which can shoot various projectiles like quills, rockets, tear gas, and lasers.
It’s not clear which Porcupine we’re seeing in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, since the Porcupine at Emil’s retreat doesn’t give his real name. But now, when you’re watching She-Hulk with your friends, you can elbow them excitedly during this scene and say, “Oh my god, it’s PORCUPINE!” as if your wildest fandom dreams have just come true.
(featured image: Marvel)
