She-Hulk's 12 Funniest Moments From Season 1 Ranked
The following contains spoilers for "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" Season 1.
"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is funny because it's true. Who hasn't dealt with Internet trolls before? Who wouldn't hate signing a super long non-disclosure agreement? Aren't we all a little tired of the same lotion being sold under three different names? The best comedy draws from reality, and "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" demonstrates this over and over again.
But which jokes are the best? Some of the show's most memorable lines involve Jen interacting with established MCU characters like Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Others toy with viewers' expectations, like the scene in which Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) hunts for a superhero fashion designer. But most of Season 1's funniest moments show Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) doing what she does best: Breaking the fourth wall and offering some meta commentary on the proceedings — including a twist in the season finale that gives Deadpool a run for his money. Ranked from reasonably amusing to laugh-out-loud funny, these are the absolute funniest moments of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" Season 1.
12. She-Hulk by Titania
Marvel fans are accustomed to seeing a mean, green lawyer when they hear "She-Hulk." So it's jarring to see that name slapped onto beauty products released by Titania (Jameela Jamil). It's kind of like seeing Thor sell insurance, or Captain America model rugged menswear. Unsurprisingly, this weirdness makes Titania's cosmetics company the source of several memorable laughs.
Episode 5, "Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans," begins with one of Titania's beauty advertisements. It's a convincing parody of real-world cosmetics ads, but the satire doesn't stop there. At a publicity event, Jen points out that Titania seems to be selling the same product under three different labels. Then she discovers an item called "snake venom lip plumper," and declares Titania is peddling actual snake oil. Technically, Titania is selling venom, not oil, but we would hardly say that's an improvement. Nikki even gets in a sly remark about Titania's overpriced products, admitting it's actually a lucrative business strategy. The most amusing moment comes when Titania hijacks the title card of the episode, transforming "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" into "She-Hulk by Titania."
11. Hulk and She-Hulk destroy a bar
When Bruce Banner and Jennifer Walters square off against each other in Episode 1, "A Normal Amount of Rage," many viewers find themselves wondering who would win in a fight: Hulk or She-Hulk? The TV show sidesteps that question, since there's no definite winner of their brawl — but then, it gives us something better.
When Bruce tells Jen she's not ready to re-enter society yet, Jen decides to leave anyway. Words are exchanged, surfboards are thrown, and pretty soon, the argument escalates into a full-blown battle. The two tussling Hulks crash into Bruce's bamboo bar counter, completely obliterating it. When Bruce sees the damage, he moans, "My baaaar!" and rolls onto the ground in despair.
Ruffalo's delivery of this line is hysterical. Suddenly, all the tension evaporates, and Bruce and Jen both come to their senses. The next shot shows the two of them rebuilding the bar as if nothing happened. This sequence leaves viewers with an important takeaway: If you ever want to defeat the Hulk, try smashing his bar counter. As far as the Hulk is concerned, things have gone too far if an innocent bar gets caught in the crossfire.
10. The '70s-style episode intro
The MCU loves to parody retro TV shows, from the "WandaVision" theme songs to Trevor Slattery's '80s series, glimpsed in "All Hail the King." "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" continues this tradition with the bitingly satirical opening credits of Episode 9, "Whose Show Is This?"
This sequence is a hilarious riff on the intro to the classic 1970s series "The Incredible Hulk." The modern show does a wonderful job of combining the '70s show's aesthetic with its 2022 sensibilities. Nowhere is the intersection of past and present more obvious than when Jen types commands into a '70s era computer, which Intelligencia is somehow using to troll her, even though the Internet definitely wasn't used in the workplace back then. Sharp-eyed fans will also notice that the episode intro incorporates Jen's fourth-wall breaking in a subtler way, as is more fitting for the time period. Plus, we can't get enough of Bruce Banner with a '70s hairdo.
This opening sequence is also more than just a gag. It recaps previous episodes, including a mention of Intelligencia and a shot of Todd (Jon Bass), in case viewers have forgotten him. And, just like the period-accurate songs in "WandaVision," it's diegetic: Jen is having a very surreal dream.
9. The boba café
Usually, in an MCU production, you'd expect an ordinary business to secretly be a front for a cool superhero thing. However, "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" opts to subvert this trope. In this case, the everyday business is a boba café that Nikki and Pug (Josh Segarra) visit in "Mean, Green, and Straight Poured into These Jeans" while they search for a tailor to design She-Hulk's suits. Nikki and Pug make fools of themselves trying to guess the password that will get them inside, while the café owner looks at them like they're crazy. Then, when the guy finally gives them access to his top-secret goods, they discover he's only selling bootleg superhero merch, labeled "Avongers" to sidestep trademark issues. The dramatic music immediately drops away as Nikki realizes this. Viewers glimpse a smorgasbord of off-brand clothing, including boxers, fanny packs, and a beach towel showcasing the Hulk in a skimpy bathing suit.
Only Nikki is forced to buy a t-shirt in exchange for information about Luke Jacobson (Griffin Matthews). Yet both Nikki and Pug are seen wearing Avongers merch in the next scene. Therefore, Pug must have bought the Avongers ballcap and the plastic Mjolnir of his own free will.
8. Jen attends therapy with supervillains
In a stroke of genius, "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" takes Emil Blonsky, a villain from one of the MCU's lesser-known movies, and reinvents him as a comic relief character — or at least, somebody viewers underestimate because he seems to be mere comic relief.
Undoubtedly, Blonsky's funniest moment comes when he leads a therapy session with a bunch of supervillains and eccentric misfits. Aside from being genuinely subversive and raising some interesting questions about what it means to be a bad guy, this scene is wildly entertaining. From the "calming chair" to Porcupine (Jordan Aaron Ford) refusing to take off his mask, the Abomination's support group is hilarious.
What makes this sequence so brilliant is that it straddles the line between sincere and ridiculous. It's ridiculous because a man-bull hybrid and a guy in a porcupine suit are all sitting around, talking about their feelings. But it's also sincere, because what they're saying actually makes a lot of sense. Ironically, these supervillains (with the exception of the Abomination, whose motives are not what they seem) are probably the most sensible characters in the entire show. That makes them exactly what Jen needs to lift her out of an emotional low point.
7. Jen's comments on episode endings
TV episodes often end on some kind of cliffhanger, to coax viewers to tune in next week. Some episodes go further by not only including a cliffhanger, but also a bit of metafictional commentary on it. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" does this unabashedly.
After learning that Titania is suing her at the end of Episode 4, "Is This Not Real Magic?," Jen breaks the fourth wall and tells the audience, "Kind of a bummer way to end this episode. I bet there's a fun tag." (For the record, there is a fun tag.) She takes this gag one step further in Episode 8, "Ribbit and Rip It." Once Leap-Frog (Brandon Stanley) has been put behind bars and Jen has gotten a chance to sleep with Daredevil (Charlie Cox), she once again turns to the audience and says, "It's weird you guys are still here." The episode should, by all rights, be over. But Jen doesn't stop there. She proceeds to acknowledge a plot point the viewers may have forgotten about (the gala), and says it would make a perfect season finale. While she's at it, she tosses out two predictions for the season's twist ending, and lampoons two common comic book clichés: "Fridging" female characters and the "Red Hulk" — that is, the hero's evil counterpart, whose suit looks exactly like theirs, in a different color.
6. She-Hulk trades barbs with Daredevil
She-Hulk's team-up with Daredevil is one of the highlights of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law," thanks, in large part, to their witty banter. Watching Jen refer to Matt Murdock as "the Gold Devil" and describe his costume as ketchup-and-mustard is hilarious. Plus, we love hearing Matt explain the difference between goons and henchmen.
One of their funniest exchanges lampshades inconsistent portrayals of Matt's blindness. When Jen asks how Daredevil can fight using only his other senses, Matt tries telling her, "I have a spatial method that I use to 'see.'" However, when Jen asks if it's echolocation, Matt gives up trying to explain it, saying, "Basically, I have really good hearing." This line lampoons the way many Daredevil stories come up with half-baked, pseudo-scientific explanations of how he fights crime. The truth is, fans don't really care how Daredevil can "see," so long as they get to see him kick butt. In acknowledging this fact, "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" lands one of its best jokes.
5. Jen inserting a recap in the middle of an episode
Recaps at the beginning of every episode are a common device in TV shows, though they're not always used effectively. Some recaps forget to mention crucial plot points, while others inadvertently give away major plot twists by drawing too much attention to moments of foreshadowing. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" highlights these flaws in the most outrageous way possible.
In Episode 7, "The Retreat," Jen attends Blonsky's therapy session. Suddenly, one of Blonsky's patients bursts in. It turns out to be Wrecker (Nick Gomez), the guy who tried to ambush Jen in Episode 3, "The People vs. Emil Blonsky." You could be forgiven for not remembering him — that was four episodes ago, and Wrecker isn't mentioned again until his surprising arrival.
Of course, Jen is already one step ahead of the show's (intentionally) sloppy script. She tells the audience, "You probably don't even remember who he is," then asks if Wrecker was already covered in the episode's opening recap. (He wasn't.) So, Jen offers to provide a recap right on the spot, even though it's the middle of the episode. With a vague gesture, she cues the camera to fill viewers in on what Wrecker was doing four episodes ago. This witty moment showcases the TV series' blistering self-awareness.
4. Wong and Madisynn's chemistry
While listing all the funniest "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" moments, we'd be remiss not to mention Wong (Benedict Wong) and Madisynn (Patty Guggenheim), who steal every scene they're in. Ever since Wong listened to Beyoncé in the first "Doctor Strange" movie, Marvel has drawn comedy from this dead-serious character's penchant for doing ridiculous things. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" capitalizes on this in "Is This Not Real Magic?" by pairing Wong with his polar opposite. Madisynn is laid-back, scatterbrained, and brings out a side of Wong that fans have never seen before.
At first, it seems like Wong can't stand her. He only calls her as a witness in court after much nudging from Jen. But then Madisynn grows on him. Soon, she and Wong are curled up on a couch in Kamar-Taj, watching "The Sopranos" together — something Wong probably hasn't even allowed Doctor Strange to do with him. Their post-credits scene is especially excellent. Madisynn questions Wong about what kinds of alcoholic beverages he's tried (a lot, it turns out). Along the way, Wong admits to having tried vodka and yak milk, before insisting that he will never make that mistake again. We particularly love that Madisynn's nickname for him is "Wongers" — and we suspect that nobody else in the MCU could get away with calling him that.
3. Jen reminds viewers whose show it is
By the time they get to "The People vs. Emil Blonsky," most viewers are used to Jen breaking the fourth wall and generally being cheeky. However, Jen takes the show to a whole new level by commenting on the MCU's fondness for cameos.
After the episode mentions that Jen is about to meet Wong, Jen leans in close to the camera and says, "I know you want to see Wong. I get it." This simply and brutally calls out everybody in the audience who perks up at the mere possibility of a cameo. Jen assures viewers that her show is not going to be the kind of series that includes a cameo in every episode just because it can — but then she admits that, come to think of it, her show has done exactly that. She counts each cameo so far on her fingers. But then, Jen brings it home: "Just remember whose show this actually is," she declares. Not only is Jen poking fun at the MCU's tendency to cram in as many cameos as possible, she's also admitting that her own show is guilty of it.
2. She-Hulk storms Marvel Studios
Right when the season finale of "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is getting good, it slips into cliché. The bad guy injects himself with Hulk blood and turns into a Hulk himself. Then, Titania and Bruce are randomly thrown into the mix. But wait, it's not what you think! Jen calls out these plot contrivances as they happen. Then, she breaks the fourth wall like never before.
For the first time, Jen goes beyond just shooting the audience a wink so they can forgive the show's plot holes. Instead, she actually rewrites the ending of the show. She Hulk-smashes her way into Disney+, slips into an episode of "Marvel Studios: Assembled," and marches right up to her show's writers. This sequence includes more gags than we could possibly name, and every single one of them is a hilarious send-up of the MCU. For instance, viewers are treated to a Hulk poster that reads, "Smash & Shred Sensitive Documents," as well as a ridiculously long non-disclosure agreement. Plus, fans get to watch She-Hulk beat up Marvel Studios security members. There's even a storyboard plastered with (deliberately) lame notes about Season 2, such as "Gamma Goo" and "But there's no WOWIE at the end." It's utterly and delightfully absurd.
1. The reveal of K.E.V.I.N.
When She-Hulk confronts the brains behind the MCU, we suspect most fans assume she's about to meet Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios. Instead, "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" does something even bolder — and it's the funniest moment of Season 1.
Everything secretly being run by an artificial intelligence is a totally natural plot point for a superhero movie, but few productions would dare insinuate that their studio is run by a soulless computer algorithm. "She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" isn't like most superhero stories, however. In the Season 1 finale, Jen meets the Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus, aka K.E.V.I.N. She calls the Hulk blood a rip-off of the super soldier serum and takes a swipe at her show's obligatory set-up of an upcoming Marvel movie. When she's done pointing out the flaws in her show's ending, she begins poking holes in the rest of the MCU, calling out everything from the studio's preoccupation with daddy issues to its inexplicable lack of X-Men. It takes guts to throw shade (even good-natured shade) at a franchise beloved by audiences and critics alike, especially when it's the one you belong to. But Jen is nothing if not gutsy. The results are hilarious.