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The first four episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law are an absolute delight. Thankfully the show dispenses with a lengthy origin story, opting repeatedly for quick and to the point, getting right to the action that audiences want to see and then making fun of itself for doing just that. This self-awareness permeates the show, which stars Emmy Award-winning actress Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) as sometime-Hulk Jennifer Walters, a lawyer focused on superhero-centered cases. Maslany is superb as the sharp, funny Walters who, in keeping with the comic, often breaks the fourth wall to address the audience and acknowledge what everyone expects of a show like this, such as cameos from the likes of Bruce Banner/The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Emil Blonsky/Abomination (Tim Roth), and Wong (Benedict Wong), as well as one surprise teased in the trailer—fellow superhero lawyer Matt Murdock/Daredevil (Charlie Cox). Walters struggles with her desire to be a lawyer against her inability to ignore that she can change back and forth into a tall, green, muscle-bound superhero who constantly garners unwanted attention. She laments that she gets hired because she is She-Hulk instead of for her legal prowess, and the show does a fine job of integrating salient issues of feminism and tokenism with humor and without ham-handed preachiness. She-Hulk is the kind of smart, funny production that proves that like Ms. Marvel, Thor: Ragnarok, or Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel is at its best when it combines self-conscious humor with great storytelling. TV-14, nine 30-minute episodes
