Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Tatiana Maslany, Ginger Gonzaga, Steve Coulter, Jameela Jamil, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Tim Roth, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong, Charlie Cox, Jon Bass, Trevor Salter, Nicholas Cirillo, Drew Matthews, Justin Eaton, Vas Sanchez, Griffin Matthews, George Bryant, Nick Gomez, Tess Malis Kincaid, Brandon Stanley, David Otunga, Eddy Rioseco, Michael Curiel, Nathan Hurd, David Pasquesi, Rhys Coiro.
A tale of comedy born out of tragedy, a Shakespearean misfortune shrouded in the fine wine of jesting aside and wit…few would ever dare suggest that Marvel and the Bard have anything in common, but as She Hulk: Attorney At Law plays out over its nine superbly envisioned episodes, the sense of achievement is such that as the Marvel juggernaut machine rumbles on, so this particular series holds the essence of a tragicomedy close to its heart, and does it without betraying the viewer’s outlook of the story of the hero at hand.
Captain Marvel, played by Brie Larson, may have been the first Marvel female lead in the MCU – the Scarlett Witch, the scorned and broken, and yet sublimely in tune with Lady Macbeth in her anger and anguish of having her power questioned, the dominant Natasha Romanoff – the erstwhile and loyal Black Widow, all can be seen in Shakespeare like pose, not aping the characters set down by the wordsmith from Stratford-Upon-Avon, but acknowledging the brilliance of the performance in a male dominated world, of surpassing the belief of their fate and creating a character for eternity.
Such is Jennifer Walters/The She Hulk’s approximation to one of Shakespeare’s arguably strongest and forthright characters, that of King Lear’s youngest daughter, Cordelia, that the comedy of the loyal Fool is intertwined with her selfless belief and kindness and makes the asides even more relevant and unobstructed by the drama surrounding the player.
In one of the greatest uses of breaking the fourth wall to have ever been used on television, Tatiana Maslany, in the role of the She-Hulk and her less aggressive lawyer persona, is the Cordelia and the Fool rolled into one demanding and excellently captured character, one to whom will set the MCU on fire. It is the melding of two great parts that makes it work, that gives the audience a huge amount of pleasure.
With the return of Charlie Cox’s Daredevil offering the kind of romance that has been begging to be utilised, the tragi-figures that encompass the brilliance of Tim Roth as The Abomination, and the resplendent Mark Ruffalo as Jennifer Walters’ cousin, Bruce Banner/ The Hulk, that the lead of Tatiana Maslany is even more exceptional, and arguably is one of the greatest all-round and fully fleshed out characters within the MCU to date.
Whereas other series have framed the narrative of transfer from graphic novel to film with grace, She Hulk: Attorney At Law tears up the formula and brings the tragedy of blood relationships and the comedy of predicament together in one explosive and creatively thrilling set of episodes. To be noble in the midst of melancholy is admirable, to be heroic in the face of farce is to master all.
Ian D. Hall