Why She-Hulk Breaks The Fourth Wall In Her MCU Show

Somehow, the title character of Marvel’s She-Hulk show can break the fourth wall. This fact about the new MCU superhero was confirmed by the first footage released of the upcoming Disney+ series. She-Hulk was among the many shows featured in Disney+ Day’s special on its future Marvel content, many of which being tied its MCU Phase 4 plan.

Played by Tatiana Maslany, She-Hulk will be the focus of her own live-action Disney+ series sometime in 2022. A few seconds of footage from a reel that included scenes from Ms. Marvel,Moon Knight and Secret Invasion, also previewed Mark Ruffalo’s role as Smart Hulk and Jennifer Walters’ She-Hulk form in the Phase 4 show. So far, not that much is known about the new show, but it has been described as a “half-hour legal comedy”. Aside from Bruce Banner, it’ll also feature Abomination and Titania, one of She-Hulk’s biggest enemies from Marvel Comics. Looking at what was shown in the trailer, the series will see Walters receive from guidance from Banner as she comes to terms with her life-changing transformation.

One of the highlights of the footage – and the Disney+ reveals in general – was She-Hulk breaking the fourth wall. When she said, “you won’t like me when I’m angry” in a moment that was clearly a homage to the 1970s Incredible Hulk TV show, Jennifer looked directly at the camera. Plus, her “I’m Jennifer Walters. I’m a normal lawyer. Well, not that normal” introduction had strong, fourth wall-breaking vibes. As for why her character would be able to do this in the MCU, this can most likely be attributed to how She-Hulk was handled in the comic books. Most Marvel heroes obviously don’t speak to readers or acknowledge that they’re comic characters, but both She-Hulk and Deadpool have done it in the past. Spider-Man has been known to do this as well, on occasion.

For many years now, She-Hulk has mentioned her fans, her role as a comic book superhero, and has even attempted to get other characters to break the fourth wall with her in her comics. It stems from an old joke that was started by comic book writer John Byrne in the 1980s when he was writing The Sensational She-Hulk. Sometimes, he would write stories where Jennifer would actually argue with him. The idea became quite popular, and has been worked into numerous She-Hulk stories for decades.

The gag’s long history in the comics looks to be something that Disney+’s She-Hulk show will pay tribute to in the MCU through Tatiana Maslany’s character. But just how many of these moments will be included in the episodes and how important this element will be remains to be seen. There’s also a question of just how far She-Hulk will go in its fourth wall-breaking scenes. Regardless, the idea of the show using this aspect of the character at all provides an interesting tease of the show’s comedic style and how it will stand out as a unique MCU installment.

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