She-Hulk: Lawyer premiered last week on Disney+, and fans are already expressing their excitement for the series. Jennifer Walters – cousin of Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk – navigates life after gaining Hulk powers after an accident. The first episode delved into Bruce’s education, Jennifer, and her life as a lawyer, and even covered Steve Rogers’ virginity in the post-credits scene.
The episode establishes that Jennifer may be a better Hulk than Banner right off the bat. Bruce spent years trying to control his other side before merging the identities, becoming “Smart Hulk”. He even made a program about being the Hulk which he uses to train Jen, but after a short time it seems like she doesn’t even need it anymore.
ten Jen is able to easily transition from Hulk to herself
When Bruce begins what he describes as a “years-long journey” for Jen, he explains that it took her years to figure out how to control her Hulk side. But, to her surprise, Jen can switch between herself and her Hulk persona with relative ease. Bruce tries to figure out why.
Bruce had struggled for years and years, swinging between him and the Hulk. He always feared that he could change at any moment and leave only destruction in his wake. The fact that Jen can change at any time gives her an edge over Bruce that he’s been waiting for for years.
9 Jen has a better grip on controlling her anger
Bruce warns Jen that anger and fear are triggers that could lead to a Hulk transformation, so he absolves from teaching her to control her anger. Jen counters that as a woman in the legal world, she controls her anger on a daily basis, especially in a male-dominated world.
Jen makes a great point about how being a woman in the world can be. Constantly harassed, directly or indirectly, by men or criticized for being too emotional, Jen has years of experience in controlling her emotions. There’s no doubt that this will come in handy as She-Hulk, and it comes from a totally different place than Bruce due to their respective genders.
8 Jen’s body accepts gamma radiation better than Bruce’s
Early on, Bruce explains that he developed a device to heal his arm; damage done by snapping your fingers to bring everyone back with the infinity gauntlet Avengers: Endgame. Analyzing Jen’s blood after the accident, Bruce finds that her body takes gamma radiation quite well. Bruce even used some of his blood to completely heal his arm.
After what fans have seen of the Hulk in the MCU, it can only be good for Jen’s body to accept gamma radiation. This already gives it years ahead of its cousin in terms of growth. Jen can also avoid some of the mistakes Bruce made in the past.
seven Jen could be stronger
Throughout their training, it is easily seen that Jen is stronger than expected of her. She can throw rocks far, balance herself, and crack a cliff by slamming into the ground. Bruce seems to be a bit jealous of his cousin’s strength compared to him.
Eventually things boil over and they fight. Jen is able to hold her own against Bruce, and her thunderclap is even stronger than hers. While it’s clear that Bruce held back for most of the fight, there are small hints that Jen is stronger than him, although Bruce won’t admit it.
6 Jen controls her Hulk persona right away
When Bruce tests Jen to see what will turn her into the Hulk, he sends a group of Bone Saws charging towards her. Jen eventually switches to She-Hulk and stops them. Bruce tries to calm her down; at Natasha’s infamous “the suns are getting very low” speech, and Jen asks why she treats him like a stray horse.
Jen controlling her Hulk persona definitely has its perks. On the one hand, that probably means Jen won’t cause as much destruction as the Hulk in the MCU. It will also let people see that she’s not a dumb monster and has full control of her powers.
5 Jen does not lose consciousness during the transformation
For a very long time, Bruce would lose consciousness by transforming into Hulk’s Banner. After Hulking, Bruce would wake up wherever he was and had to piece together what he had done as the Hulk. In Thor: Ragnarokhe had been the Hulk for two years in a row and had trouble remembering anything about it.
Since Jen can easily switch between her and She-Hulk, she doesn’t lose consciousness when switching back to Jen. She’s already at an advantage over Bruce, as she doesn’t have to worry about struggling to remember what kind of damage she did as She-Hulk.
4 Jen finds her peace in being a faster Hulk than Bruce
At first, Jen wants nothing to do with being the Hulk. She actively tries to deny it and does everything she can to get out of Bruce’s lab in Mexico. Jen eventually relents and trains with Bruce, but still expresses no interest in being a superhero.
As Titania confronts her in the courtroom at the end of the episode, she transforms into She-Hulk and knocks her down with a punch. Even though she tries to ignore it, Jen finds having powers like hers and not being a superhero will be difficult. The fact that she goes through all of this in a short amount of time and her acceptance of her powers is years ahead of when Bruce felt the same way about being the Hulk.
3 Jen wants a normal life
After the accident and becoming the Hulk, all Jen wants is to resume her daily life as a lawyer. Jen trains with Bruce, but keeps telling him that she wants to leave and get her life back despite his worries. Bruce tells her that she will never be able to have a typical life and that she has to accept that she has changed.
Being a Hulk fundamentally changes your life, but Jen still sticks to her guns and wants the ordinary life she had. She enjoys being a lawyer, hopes to find love, and comments that she has to pay off a fortune in student loans. These are all issues that the average person tends to face. However, Bruce gave up hope for a regular life a long time ago.
2 Jen tries to focus on the positives of being Hulk
Bruce realizes that while training is going well, Jen doesn’t like to focus on all the negatives of being a Hulk. So Bruce decides to show them some positives, starting with how much they can drink without getting drunk, or as he describes it: “all buzzing, no vomiting.”
Jen immediately takes this positive, and she and Bruce begin to bond with each other. Bruce explains how Tony Stark helped him build the bar during The Blip. Jen immediately taking on the positives gives her a leg up on Bruce as he focused on the negatives for years and years before seeing the positive benefits of his condition.
1 Jen being a woman will end up making her a better Hulk
Ultimately, being female is what makes Jennifer Walters a better Hulk than Bruce Banner. The ability to temper and control one’s emotions, which unfortunately women all over the world have to deal with, only helps one with Hulk-like abilities.
The title of the first episode, “A Normal Amount of Rage”, is something Jen says to Bruce when he asks her to control her rage. The constant repetitions she endures daily at her job or on the streets show that Jen has a firm grip on controlling her emotions. Additionally, the series makes powerful social commentary by stating that women who are overly emotional or show rage are not highly valued in society, which Jen may encounter throughout the season.
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