Opening Night: She-Hulk

Good day CrewMembers and welcome to Opening Night: She-Hulk Attorney at Law

(Posted 5/17, Updated 5/20)

The purpose of the “Opening Night” feature is to give newcomers the foundations and basic information to be able to enjoy the program more fully. We work to avoid probable spoilers and speculation to allow everyone to enjoy “THOSE” moments together. We take our focus from the trailers and on-the-record news confirmed by the cast and crew.

MARVEL surprised us by dropping a trailer for "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" earlier today (May 17th.) She-Hulk is one of my favorite characters and I've been looking forward to her Marvel Cinematic debut so I was pretty excited to write this.

While "She-Hulk" is going to be an origin story for Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk, there are a few familiar faces in the cast that are featured in the trailer. We'll take a look at them to work out our Pre-Viewing Checklist.

The biggest confirmation is the inclusion of Bruce Banner/Hulk. In the comics Bruce is Jennifer's cousin and the familial connection will crossover to the MCU. So while Jen is making her first appearance in this series, Bruce has been around for quite a while. We first met Bruce (played by Edward Norton) in 2008's The Incredible Hulk. Things didn't stay so rosy between Edward and MARVEL so the next time Bruce/Hulk showed up in 2012's The Avengers he was played by Mark Ruffalo and Mark has carried the torch ever since. It isn't until Avengers Age of Ultron that we get to see Hulk in action again. Thankfully, his 4th appearance comes before another Avengers team up as he plays a significant role in Thor Ragnarok. Immediately following Ragnarok, Bruce returns for Avengers Infinity War.

That wasn't his last appearance, but it may be the last that currently matters. The look of the Hulk from the trailer seems to give off the impression that Avengers Endgame hasn't happened yet. For the sake of just giving enough info to be prepared, it seems that Endgame can be left off the "required" list. Keeping that in mind, here is Bruce Banner/Hulk's journey so far.

The Incredible Hulk -> The Avengers -> Avengers Age of Ultron -> Thor Ragnarok -> Avengers Infinity War

I'm sure some people will be upset that we don't mention the appearance in the post credit scene of Iron Man 3, but it was really a just for fun scene and not one of their set up scenes.

Now, another returning character is Emil Blonsky aka Abomination. You'll meet him in The Incredible Hulk, but that isn't his only MCU appearance. He pops up again in a pretty fun way in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Do you learn anything new about him in this appearance? Not really, and Shang Chi does fall into the post Endgame timeline, so at the moment this doesn't appear to be required viewing either. Therefore, adding Emil into the mix doesn't add any new programs to the Pre-Viewing Checklist.

That's really all that this first trailer reveals to us. We have until August for the show to premiere so there is a good chance that more will be confirmed by future trailers/commercials. If that's the case, we'll update this feature as well. Then, we will create a "Second Run" feature to go over the episodes and get a little bit more specific on what is recommended and what is required viewing.

UPDATE May 20th: Kevin Feige's presentation at Disney's Upfront provided some more clues to the show that were in the trailer. He confirmed that Wong will show up in "She-Hulk" too. While his role in the show hasn't been detailed, we'll add some more viewing for you to get caught up on Wong's story. The presentation didn't give more clues on where "She-Hulk" will sit on the MCU timeline, so we're going with the evidence we saw in the trailer and still saying between Infinity War and Endgame. However, we are going to add a couple of Endgame and after programs as extra-curricular programs if you are interested in being cautious.

Wong first joins the MCU in Dr. Strange and then returns for Infinity War, so those we would consider required now. Post Endgame is when he starts popping up in more programs and begins to move toward full-time status in the MCU. If you want to be safe and go past Infinity War, we'd recommend adding these: Endgame, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man No Way Home, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Here's what Wong has been mixed up in.

Doctor Strange->Avengers Infinity War~>Avengers Endgame~>Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings~>Spider-Man No Way Home~>Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

We've said it before, but we feel the need to repeat this disclaimer: in this feature we are focusing on getting you the foundations for "She-Hulk." Some of the programs we recommend, Infinity War, Endgame, No Way Home, and Multiverse of Madness, are a nexus of characters and story lines and have their own "Opening Night/Second Run" features that aren't covered here. (End 05/20 Update)

"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law"

Opening Night Pre-Viewing Checklist

THE INCREDIBLE HULK (2008)

THE AVENGERS (2012)

AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON (2015)

DOCTOR STRANGE (2016)

THOR RAGNAROK (2017)

AVENGERS INFINITY WAR (2018)

"SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW" (2022)

AVENGERS ENDGAME (2019)

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS (2021)

SPIDER-MAN NO WAY HOME (2021)

DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook in case we need to update this (again), and watch for our "Second Run" feature after each "She-Hulk" episode!

~Until then, enjoy the show!