Editorial: Please Never Make a She-Hulk TV Show...

Editorial: Please Never Make a She-Hulk TV Show...

Popular opinion praises the benefits of She-Hulk on the small screen. Briefly surveying the highs and many lows of Marvel TV, I hope to show this beloved character deserves better.

Editorial Opinion
By parkerray - Sep 08, 2018 05:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Avengers

There has never been a live-action version of She-Hulk. As fans, we have waited a long time. And It's out of a great lifelong love of the character that I react everytime I read another comment vaguely asserting that she's a great fit for the small screen.




Marvel TV shows basically never come close to the cinematic levels the MCU has achieved.  

 

 

At its best Daredevil (just a few scenes from DD I could watch over and over like the bloody prison Punisher scene or some of the more emotional Elektra moments) or Purple Man in Jessica Jones, to mid-tier like Punisher, Agent Carter or Luke Cage, and onto the mammoth disappointment and waste that was Defenders, not to mention abysmal failures like the first season of Iron Fist or Inhumans, where nearly every concept felt wholly unfinished or as if local LA daycares were mined for creative talent. But it's Cloak and Dagger that has really sealed my frustration because the trailer had me. Despite the teen drama, there was so much beauty and emotion and sensory detail, but after eight episodes, yet again, despite signing up for Hulu just to watch it, enjoying the leads, being shocked at the resonance and deeply compassionate work of episode seven (and even some action...finally), besides just loving seeing any Marvel characters brought to life, I know I would never want to sit through those first six episodes again. Not if you paid me. You can't compare that constant disappointment to the MCU. It's not even close.






Gorgeous in any case, but still...no.
 

 





There are a few shows I can't fully comment on. The Fox shows. I hear constant good things about Legion. I have the blu-rays, still sealed. The thing is, I just don't care enough about Legion or Blink, etc. to have tuned in to either of those. Maybe the Cuckoos will still lure me in, I'm not sure. Runaways I would've been all for if Molly wasn't my favorite, and if she wasn't so miscast (age wise) that she appears to have just stepped off the short bus. 

 


The one standout is Agents of Shield. Despite the slow start. I could absolutely watch that again. 



But should She-Hulk follow that model? Maybe at best, like AoS we get a few brief, minor MCU cameos spread out over twice as many seasons. She-Hulk, though, absolutely needs tons of quirky visual effect driven characters as regulars, like Awesome Andy or Man-Wolf or Titania. And maybe we get a few standouts a la Ghost Rider, like Howard the Duck or Man-Thing. Great! they would fit in even better than the Rider on AoS. 
 




But comparitively the ONLY factor I really deeply care about is She-Hulk herself. I want a She-Hulk that looks at least as good as Gamora. I want a She-Hulk that steps onto the screen and people gasp or nearly come to tears like Feige did when he first saw Vision. I want to be able to say, that IS She-Hulk. She-Hulk as we've always imagined her, straight from the comic panels. I want a She-Hulk that takes advantage of her great range, her grand comedic potential, as with Ant-Man or Rangarok or Guardians, but still holds up the full drama and intelligence and heart of her character.





And I want to see her fighting next to fricking Captain America! Even if HBO were to suddenly demand rights to She-Hulk at any cost (ha..ha) she's far too important and compelling to be sidelined to comic book TV as we've always known it. 

 
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ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 9/9/2018, 3:46 AM
I don't get why so many want a She-Hulk TV series. She doesn't really work without Hulk to introduce her. Also she's a major Avenger and F4 member. Why would you limit her role?
Also she needs to be made partially by cgi, probably too expensive for a TV budget.
parkerray
parkerray - 9/9/2018, 10:24 PM
@ChrisRed - Thanks for the thoughtful response. Agreed on ALL points. I thought I was possibly overreacting when a bunch more people commented how she needs to be TV. The only explanation anyone gives, that I've read, is that her adventures need to be serialized. But the MCU is the most successful *serialized* film franchise ever. A She-Hulk trilogy with guest spots could be really huge and fun and surprise people with its depth. And then I guess I have heard people criticize her name, saying it sounds goofy and secondary and people can't get past it, but then you have movies like The Meg, big ass Jaws basically, and if marketers can figure out how to draw people into that so successfully, I think She-Hulk with the MCU's reputation would be good. Like you said, "Why limit her?" Exactly! She's a linchpin, a focal point of the most important branches of the MCU. It's really good to hear someone agree. Her first live action appearance should show her in her full-on glory.
ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 9/10/2018, 12:37 AM
@parkerray - you're welcome :)
I read some of the original savage She-Hulk comics as a child. It could be cool if she started out savage as the Hulk and evolved into the more modern lawyer-She-Hulk. This also helps to distinguish her from her male counterpart.

I'm not sure if She-Hulk is part of the Hulk-universal deal and therefore won't have solo movies, but she would also work great in ensemble films. Maybe her origin could be included in Avengers 5... Who knows?
parkerray
parkerray - 9/11/2018, 7:27 PM
@ChrisRed - Oh man, I really hope Universal doesn't have control of her. Or that they might waver somehow, considering Marvel Studio's success, now more than ever with the top two box office spots by a wide margin. But yeah for sure, if they could do as well with her as they have with Scarlet Witch and Vision, I'd be happy with the ensemble route, too.

And that's awesome; I had a couple Savage She-Hulks, too. I was lucky enough to get the first issue off the spinner rack. I think that's a small reason I still love the character so much; that and (New Teen Titans) were the first ones where I got to be on board from the beginning. I love the idea of her starting out savage. It hadn't occurred to me. That could add to a really great character arc like Wanda's.
ChrisRed
ChrisRed - 9/12/2018, 5:48 AM
@parkerray - If Cap, IM and Thor are put on the back-burner after A4 the MCU could use some new strong avengers and She-Hulk would be a great addition. Maybe introduce Jennifer to provide the team some legal aid only for her to get hurt and need the blood transfusion.
The fact that her origin is so simple makes it a great fit for an ensemble movie.

Thanks. I always had a thing for the savage She-Hulk so I'd love for her to appear on film, hopefully sometime soon.
A problem for supporting characters can be that they don't have any arcs of their own and I think evolving Jennifer from lawyer to savage to lawyer would be interesting. Time will tell what they'll do with her.
rabid
rabid - 9/16/2018, 11:26 PM
@ChrisRed - Because all of her solo series are written in a style similar to sitcoms and legal dramas. She's more Alley McBeal than Lara Croft, so big budget action isn't really true to the spirit of her source material.
parkerray
parkerray - 9/19/2018, 3:27 AM
@rabid - sure there are sitcom and legal drama threads, but then there are also constant pages and pages of:

ThunderKat
ThunderKat - 9/12/2018, 4:14 PM
"SHIELD" had a character named Jennifer Walters and killed her in one episode.

That aside, Shulkie will only work on the big screen. She needs Hawkeye or Johnny Storm to play off as well as fight alongside Cap et al.

Marvel needs to stop with TV. DD and Cage are good. I stopped watching beyond that. And the animated stuff is so awful. They need to find their Bruce Timm.

parkerray
parkerray - 9/14/2018, 4:19 AM
@ThunderKat - Interesting, was that on Agents of Shield? I tried looking it up a few different ways but couldn't find anything.

Yess, this would actually make me care more about MCU Hawkeye. I hadn't thought about him and She-Hulk in a while. I wish I could remember more specifics of their interactions but it was a long time ago I read that stuff. One thing I guess she wouldn't be as free to manhandle and plant one on him considering his family. But yeah for sure those two would be fun.
ThunderKat
ThunderKat - 9/21/2018, 2:49 PM
@parkerray - @parkerray - It was a season or two back. I haven't watched the most recent two seasons.

I don't recall the issue numbers. "The Mighty Avengers" books in the early to mid 80's had a couple issues wherein Jen got blasted with something and was "stuck" in human form. Hawkeye kept riding her about it until she nearly killed him. She then thanked him for getting her back to normal. Hawkeye always had his mouth running with everybody. There wasn't anything romantic or sensational between Hawk & She-Hulk.
parkerray
parkerray - 9/23/2018, 3:57 AM
@ThunderKat - ah ok, that narrows it down, thanks. I did find a Noelle Walters (http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Noelle_Walters).

Ah and maybe we were thinking of the same. I had this issue as a kid:


and later this Johns issue, still my favorite Avengers run:

ThunderKat
ThunderKat - 9/29/2018, 2:18 PM
@parkerray - http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Avengers_Vol_1_229

Found it. #229 I think Radioactive Man blasted her back to human form. Hawkeye's harrassment helped her go green.
parkerray
parkerray - 9/30/2018, 1:16 PM
@ThunderKat - Ahh, cool. I never had 229. I'd like to get them all, from that era especially.
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