Despite its rocky promotions and uphill battle in the Marvel Cinematic Univesre, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been an absolute delight, and I’m so excited for the season finale. Because the show feels relatively quiet, outside of a few tense endings and until the chaos of episode 8 (Ribbit and Rip it), many people are on edge and waiting for the ball to drop. This has led to outlandish-sounding fan theories, with the latest one making some bold claims that, if true, could mean big problems for Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk.
**Spoilers for all of She-Hulk except the finale.**
I’m just going to rip the bandaid off. There is talk that Walters’ (Tatiana Maslany) paralegal and best friend, Nikki Ramos (Ginger Gonzaga), is not who she seems. Some are speculating that she’s not only about to betray Jen, but that Nikki is working with dark magic. While the first sighting of this eerie connection dates back at least to September 24 on Reddit (about two days after episode six’s release) via user FoxFire, it really picked up steam on TikTok when creator Ivan Mars made this video.
As Mars shows using hyped-up Incredibles music, not only did Nikki appear to break the fourth wall in this episode like villain Agatha Harkness did in WandaVision, but her necklace could be perceived as a pentagram, and her earrings look similar to Harkness’s pendant. Many believe Nikki is about to betray Jen and is in cahoots with the sorceress. This show has already shown magic, a shape-shifter, demons, and hell. Adding to the theory is the fact that Agatha Harkness is getting her own show as early as Winter 2023, so why not drop in clues now?
Why I’m not so sure …
While this would be interesting to see play out, I’m not buying it. While the Harkness symbol connection is hard to see, the necklace is just a star. Also, I looked at the scene in episode six (Just Jen) several times, and that doesn’t look like a fourth wall-breaking scene. Nikki is rolling her eyes. It could be a slip-up from Gonzaga or just the way she exaggerated it.
Now, Nikki being controlled by Agatha is not out of the question. But so far, there’s just not enough evidence to support the theory. Or enough “why”s to see a connection. Jessica Gao and the show’s writers have been able to subvert many tropes (some MCU specific), so I’m not buying the lazy idea of Nikki doing it to compete with Jen. Amelia (RenĂ©e Elise Goldsberry) is Jen’s work competition, but they still respect each other.
Nikki may end up controlled later as the resident side-kick, but I don’t think it will be because of her accessories. As a recovering “is this Mepshisto!?”-head myself, I know that it hurts to put a theory down like this. No shade to Mars because it looks like they’re just having fun, but many of their posts follow this format, and this video was done after being suggested in the comments in previous TikToks.
I think between all the twists thrown at us so far in She-Hulk, the interconnectedness of the MCU, and the lack of authentic female friendships in the MCU being so severe that it’s become difficult to trust Nikki and her authenticity. Gonzaga’s portrayal has been funny, empathetic, and supportive. Jen deserves it, and we deserve to see positive friendships onscreen like that.
(via Ivan Mars on TikTok, featured image: Marvel Entertainment)
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