During this Thursday's episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, The Wrecking Crew took aim at Jennifer Walters in a failed attempt to steal a sample of her blood. The group has managed to get their grubby mitts on an Asgardian's construction worker's tools in the MCU, but appear every bit as dumb as their comic book counterparts.
After failing in their mission, they mention that their boss won't be happy, and that's got us thinking: exactly who are these guys working for?!
In the premiere, Bruce Banner made it clear that Jen has very special blood and that, should anyone get their hands on it, they could create more Hulks. That may be disastrous for the MCU, but would lead to the introduction of a whole host of new superpowered heroes and, more likely, villains.
Below, you'll find our suggestions for who could be pulling The Wrecking Crew's strings, so simply click on the "Next" button to see who we think is responsible!
5. The Leader
The last time we saw Dr. Samuel Sterns, he helped transform Emil Blonsky into The Abomination and started going through some changes himself. A tie-in comic book would late reveal that Sterns had been taken into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody by Black Widow, so where is The Leader these days?
That we don't know, but it adds up for him to be pulling the strings from the shadows.
He's more than smart enough to keep an eye on The Hulk, though we wouldn't put it past him to deduce how important She-Hulk's blood is on his own accord. Now, with Bruce off-planet, it's the perfect time to strike and unleash an army of Hulks on the world who are all under his control.
It's possible he's working for or with someone else, of course, but it's still about time The Leader returns to the MCU. This series seems like the best possible place to make it happen, so fingers crossed.
4. Maestro
This would be pretty out there, but it's the sort of twist that can now work thanks to the Multiverse.
Maestro is a future version of The Hulk who survived an apocalyptic war that wiped out Earth's heroes. He became a twisted dictator who it's easy to imagine travelling back in time to get his cousin's blood in order to create a new world made up Hulks who can't so easily perish (it certainly sounds like a suitably crazy plan for the villain, anyway).
We're all assuming that we're getting World War Hulk, but World War Hulks may make more sense for the MCU. That storyline, while not very good, saw a whole host of Hulked Out being square off, and The Hulk is always at his best when he confronts his inner demons.
With that in mind, who better to pit him and She-Hulk against than himself?
3. General "Thunderbolt" Ross
This is a tricky one, especially after the recent death of actor William Hurt. Marvel Studios may choose to recast him, of course, especially if they intend to introduce Red Hulk in the near future (which they really should consider).
If not Ross, then perhaps another character like Glenn Talbot? He would have to be rebooted for the MCU after those Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. appearances, though we're pretty sure that wouldn't be too hard when the ABC series is barely canon. Failing that, there could always be another member of the Ross family who comes gunning for Bruce and his cousin.
We haven't seen Betty Ross since The Incredible Hulk and, in the comics, she was transformed into an out-of-control Hulk by The Leader after dying following years of exposure to Bruce's Gamma irradiated blood.
Whatever the case may be, we need Red Hulk in the MCU.
2. Valentina Allegra de Fontaine
In both The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Black Widow, we've seen Valentina Allegra de Fontaine pulling the strings and seemingly assembling her own team of anti-heroes.
Common sense says they will assemble in Thunderbolts, with the team likely connected to or named after General "Thunderbolt" Ross. If his time in the MCU is at an end, then we're guessing it's the former, making Val the most likely candidate to be embarking on a mission to create a Hulk she can control and send into battle.
Perhaps the plan now is for that to be Red Hulk, with Marvel Studios retaining the mystery from the comics about who he really is (the twist, of course, is that he wouldn't be Ross in the MCU).
Alternatively, perhaps Ross is dying and the only way he can be saved is as a Hulk? A new actor would have to voice Ross, though it wouldn't be too hard when he'd sound different in that form, anyway.
1. The Abomination
Sometimes the correct answer is the most obvious, and The Abomination being revealed as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's true big bad still feels like the most likely outcome.
Yes, he claims to have reformed, but that feels like a way to finally get his revenge on the Green Goliath who defeated him in The Incredible Hulk all those years ago. We know he brings together a group of C-List supervillains as part of that wellness retreat or whatever it is he's plotting, though we'd say there's a good chance he plans to transform at least some of them.
The Wrecking Crew receiving a sampling of Jen's blood would bring them more in line with their comic book counterparts, for example, and we can't help but wonder whether Abomination played a role in Titania's transformation.
The Abomination has been behind bars, though, so he's no doubt working with someone and that leads us right back to The Leader...