Attorney at Law Boasts a Wonderful Maslany Performance in A Wildly Inconsistent Series

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the newest superhero series outing on Disney+, is yet another series that pushes the boundaries of Marvel’s oeuvre thus far. It’s a half-hour superhero comedy series focusing on Jennifer Walters, a cousin of Bruce Banner who received the ultimate gift, Banner’s irradiated blood, giving her hulk transformations and power to match. The series itself boasts a number of strengths, including clever scene set-ups, a charming tone, and a fantastic turn by Tatiana Maslany. On the other hand, jokes don’t always land, it feels aimless at times, and the series continues the MCU’s massive, inexcusable handling of the Hulk and his Bruce Banner alter-ego. In short, it has serious missed potential while screaming ‘Abandon Hulk, ye who enter here.’

Jennifer Walters has a problem. She’s a young, talented attorney looking to make it in her practice while balancing the dating world… except she’s now a Hulk. She gets roped into the burgeoning field of superhero law, setting her path on a collision course with villains, misogynists, obstacles and more while she navigates her newfound powers (and their attendant complexities). How does one become a hero when one doesn’t really want to?

One thing’s for sure: Tatiana Maslany is a wonderful Jennifer. She has a wild charm, a good nature, and a lot of humor. It’s a casting to die for and I’m looking forward to her next appearance in the MCU. It’s also full of guest spots like Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Wong (Benedict Wong), seasoned Marvel performers that are long-time fan favorites. Expectedly, they pull in great performances, and their interactions with Walters are some of the best scenes in the series so far (the first four episodes were available for review).

As a whole, the series is nonetheless woefully uneven between episodes. A number of the initial episodes feel aimless at times. Jokes are inconsistent in concept and execution, the series’ episodes feel like they have dramatically divergent weight and pacing, and not every concept lands. Some of the jokes, like those about Walters’ dating life, are woefully dated. What’s worse is that a number of the ‘jokes’ are at the expense of legacy characters who, frankly, deserve better. Benedict Wong, for example, has gradually come to grow towards his role as Sorcerer Supreme over several outings, while here he’s reduced at times (between incompetence and a drunk female visitor) to a shadow of his potential. The worst victim of this treatment is the Hulk, who in the Russo’s hands turned from the powerhouse Savage Hulk straight into ‘Smart Hulk’ over the years of the Blip, an unearned transformation that jettison’s Banner’s comic complexity and long evolution into Smart Hulk.

The result of that sudden plot pivot was a thorough depowering of the Hulk, a destruction of the Jekyll/Hyde dynamic that made him interesting, and of most of his capabilities in favor of an easily sideline-able character. It’s an MCU cemented by the fact that the Russo Brothers admittedly didn’t know how to use Hulk (literally explaining “We just didn’t know what to do with him […] what do we do with this big, powerful character?”). Of course, a lack of a solo outing is inevitable given the rights complexity with the Hulk character, but the MCU’s thoughtless erosion of a great character is unfortunate. She-Hulk continues the trend.

As seen in the trailers, the character of She-Hulk sets herself apart for comedic effect by being overtly better than Banner in every way—smarter, more coordinated, an easily unified whole, and more. Banner’s hulk is made to be a joke, but it’s not funny enough to justify the character’s further dismantling. These decisions are made for humor’s sake, sure, but it would be much funnier for characters who weren’t already ground into powder with their potential scattered to the wind. While Banner’s story surely isn’t over, it’s a stark reminder of the wasted potential of one of Marvel’s most iconic characters. Of course, the serious could turn that around in its full duration, but if that’s the plan this is a strange set-up.

A lot of the action in the first four episodes is brief and, frankly, poorly choreographed and executed. It’s really not a legal drama either, as the writer’s room excised a strong trial focus when they realized early on that “none of us are that adept at writing, you know, rousing trial scenes,” at least at first. Finally, the series’ controversial CGI is also woefully inconsistent, looking great in some scenes and like an Xbox cutscene in others. It’s all a little inexplicable.

At the end, the first four episodes of She-Hilk: Attorney at Law have a lot of promise, while Maslany rocks as Walters. There are a number of jokes and scenes that do work despite the above criticisms, it’s a real gamble as to the individual jokes and episodes which are going to actually work. Here’s to hoping that the series meets its potential and lands well, but there have been more hopeful propositions. At the end we’re left with a series that’s, well, fine. This critic was hoping for much more, but your mileage may vary.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres Thursday on Disney+.