Where Does She-Hulk Fit In The MCU Timeline?
"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is the latest show from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to premiere on Disney+, and it certainly won't be the last. In this live-action debut of the titular superhero comma lawyer, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) will be seen taking on bad guys both on the streets and in the courtroom, specifically tackling cases involving superhumans. However, some cases prove to be more dangerous than others, including one involving a familiar-looking man with similar abilities to hers and that of her cousin, Bruce (Mark Ruffalo).
The 30-minute comedy will be a first for the franchise, as MCU shows have typically been dramas lasting around an hour per episode. Needless to say, this show will be a first in many ways for the franchise.
While there are some unanswered questions still lingering before its premiere on August 17, there are a few things we can piece together regarding where the show takes place in the timeline of the MCU. We know for a fact that "She-Hulk" will take place during Phase Four, which was recently announced to be ending with "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." But what else do we know about the show's time and place in the MCU?
A conflict of interest
It appears that a decent amount of time has passed between the final battle in "Avengers: Endgame" and "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law." We already know this because of one relatively minor detail — the state of Bruce's arm. As pointed out in our recent trailer breakdown, the painful arm injury the superhero endured by wielding the Infinity Gauntlet in "Endgame" seems to have completely healed. Plus, people just don't create law firms overnight, especially for such specific clientele as superhumans. Jennifer's new gig suggests a world that has fully absorbed, and moved on from, the events of "Endgame."
Adding even more fuel to this placement is the passage of time throughout the other MCU entries in Phase 4. The Avengers are so revered for their heroics that they now have an entire fan convention dedicated to them, as seen in "Ms. Marvel." The world at large doesn't seem to have been altered due to any of the multiverse shenanigans from "Spider-Man: No Way Home," either, and many superpowered people can be seen chilling out normally like in "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings."
Speaking of "Shang-Chi," it looks like "She-Hulk" will coincide with the film's reintroduction of Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), aka the Abomination. In that film, he and Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) are seen engaging in somewhat-friendly combat at the Golden Daggers club before he returns to a cell Wong creates a portal to. The "good" behavior exhibited by Blonsky, as well as his apparent personality change from his appearance in 2008's "The Incredible Hulk" could play a role in "She-Hulk," especially given the conflict of interest he poses to Jennifer.
What to expect from the show's plot
"She-Hulk" is looking to be a much easier show to watch than, say, "Loki" or "WandaVision" due to its half-hour comedy format. Jennifer, a successful lawyer who might be too much of a workaholic, is proud of her cousin Bruce for his heroism but has no intentions of ever following his lead. However, when his blood somehow gets cross-contaminated with hers, she finds herself with no choice but to train and harness her new abilities.
This training, while not something Jennifer wants to do, ends up being extremely important not only for her personal life but her professional life as well. Because of her talent as a lawyer and her newfound Hulk abilities, she is recruited to become a partner at a new law firm established specifically for cases involving superhumans. Since she herself has powers, she is seemingly the perfect attorney to represent clients with powers and abilities, although she still has a lot to learn about being both a Hulk and also a regular person.
"The greater Marvel Cinematic Universe has already done a fantastic job of huge action, enormous stakes," said showrunner Jessica Gao in a recent interview. "But that can't be every single day. What happens in between those movies when these characters just have to live their lives, when they have to go on dates, when they have to go grocery shopping, when they have to see their family at a reunion?"
Everything else we know about She-Hulk
Of course, that's not the only thing we currently know about the upcoming series. Maslany, Ruffalo, and Roth will be joined by big cast of characters of both the superhuman and regular-human variety. Jameela Jamil will serve as the series' super-strong and super-annoying villain Titania, while Benedict Wong will once again appear as the Sorceror Supreme, presumably to tell the Banners that something is dangerous before promptly leaving. Oh, and Charlie Cox is reprising his role as Daredevil. Other actors involved in the series include Renée Elise Goldsberry, Ginger Gonzaga, Jon Bass, Josh Segarra, Griffin Matthews, Anais Almonte, and Nicholas Cirillo. However, it sadly has not been revealed who's playing Frog-Man.
We also know that the series will have a very distinct sense of humor. The show will blend together the sensibilities of a legal comedy, presumably having Jennifer take on a new wacky client per-week, with the self-awareness of John Byrne's version of the character. It has also been revealed that Phoebe Waller-Bridge's modern classic "Fleabag" was a major inspiration on the show's writing. Needless to say, the show will likely not take itself too seriously and will explore the innate absurdity of a world now populated with superheroes, something that the MCU desperately needs in its post-"Endgame" years.
"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" premieres on Disney+ on August 17, 2022.