Note: This is a review of the first four episodes of the series

Following the trend of Disney+ introducing us to new characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe this year, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law follows Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), cousin of Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), after a car accident involving Bruce that leaves her with the same powers as her cousin. With these new-found powers, she navigates the life of being a 30-something lawyer who is now asked to represent other super-powered individuals, balance her dating life, and simply being 6’7, green, and wielding immense strength.

She-Hulk isn’t exactly the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s dip into sitcom territory as WandaVision did a great job at making use of the style and format for a couple of episodes. But whereas WandaVision paid homage to sitcoms for the sake of getting into Wanda’s psyche, She-Hulk genuinely is a full-fledged sitcom. And you know what? I’m having a blast with it so far. The show doesn’t negate the sitcom format whatsoever, and feels like a genuine balance of both MCU-connections as well as classic sitcom-isms and comedic moments. Each episode feels like a fun, 30-minute dip into the MCU where the stakes are slightly lower but the fourth wall is a little more fragile.

A big reason that the show works as well as it does is because of the lead performance from Tatiana Maslany, who proved she was an incredible actress with immense range in the show Orphan Black. Here, she proves that she has truly impeccable comedic timing and can carry a show almost entirely off her charisma and line-delivery. One thing that I was worried about was that the performance and character would be lost when she transforms into a Hulk, but luckily I don’t think the performance is lost at all and feels like a natural transition the same way it does when Ruffalo acts as Smart Hulk.

The supporting cast here is also really solid, but Benedict Wong’s return as Wong is a huge highlight. I don’t consider this a spoiler as it’s revealed in the trailers, but I won’t divulge much into why or how he’s in the show. Wong just does a really amazing job with the material here, and double down on the shades of his comedic ability that we’ve seen in past Marvel films. Mark Ruffalo returning as Hulk is also a big thumbs-up from me, as it feels like a natural and nice connection between the two of them. Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky/Abomination was one character I was immensely curious about going in since we haven’t seen him since 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, but I thought his storyline so-far is genuinely pretty compelling and it’s nice to see a different side to Blonsky’s story this time around.

If there’s any negatives to be had, some of the visuals do feel a bit rushed and like they could’ve taken some punching-up. It’s a little weird to see Hulk fully, perfectly rendered in the same shot as She-Hulk that feels slightly-less perfected. However, after the rough first trailer that came out, I still think that the visuals are better than I expected them to be. I’m also sure that some Marvel fans won’t be a fan of the shows’ humor and tone, but I will happily divert from that mindset. She-Hulk does a really solid job at balancing sitcom-isms, creating its own personality and pocket of the MCU, and tying in other Marvel characters and stories in a really natural way. I’m having a blast so far!

3.5/5