Spoiler Warning: She-Hulk Season One

She-Hulk had its ninth and final episode of the season out this week. A lot happened in it, and despite the masterpiece of fourth wall breaking that occurred, not all fans were happy with some of the other things that went down. She-Hulk is deeply connected inside the MCU canon. The number of other superheroes and significant show events turns She-Hulk into a nexus of universe-changing occurrences. The mere number of possibilities generated by the show was staggering, and fan theories have been running wild. But the show also took its opportunities to write some serious canon.

She-Hulk’s finale tied everything up very neatly, leaving only the loose ends meant for other MCU series to grab onto. Matt Murdock had a little relationship talk with Jen’s family. Wong helped the Abomination escape from prison. And Bruce Banner returned from Sakaar with his son! These are all things that future shows will take advantage of. But fans were disappointed by some of these happenings, not because they weren’t exciting or written correctly, but because many of the aforementioned fan theories had viewers pointing themselves in a different direction. And expectations can always ruin reality.

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The She-Hulk Finale Was True to the Comics

     Marvel Comics

The She-Hulk finale had everything, from its old school opening doing an excellent take on the 1977 series The Incredible Hulk with Lou Ferrigno, to the end, where Jen crashed through Disney+ and invaded her own writers’ room. She-Hulk has been continuously innovating and giving Marvel fans something different when some fans might be experiencing Marvel fatigue. The best part is that all of it was true to the comics.

In her paper issues, She-Hulk regularly broke the fourth wall, confronting writers and going after writer-artist John Byrne – who was involved in Marvel Comics in a similar capacity to how Kevin Feige works with the MCU. The Disney+ show even included a huge Easter egg to the comic book that inspired the episode. After She-Hulk breaks out of the series and hops into Marvel Studios Assembled via the Disney+ menu, she heads down a hallway toward the writers’ room. She passes a sign that just labels the She-Hulk production studio, and in the bottom left corner of the sign is a QR code. Once you scan it, you’ll get to read The Sensational She-Hulk #50, in which She-Hulk must find a new writer after hearing the news that John Byrne has died. He hadn’t actually died, of course; it was all just a comic book gag.

But many fans have had differing opinions on She-Hulk’s fourth wall breaks throughout the season, and perhaps this finale created the most divisive arguments of them all. The point of heated contention was She-Hulk meeting K.E.V.I.N. the machine that controls all Marvel movies, and a wink to Kevin Feige. MovieWeb’s She-Hulk finale review called it:

While Vulture states:

“A cheeky attempt at cleverness backfires with an avalanche of dumb reveals and twists. Her ability to break the fourth wall fixes a formulaic ending and pokes fun at Marvel Studios. It doesn’t work and encapsulates the show’s flaws.”

“Many eyes may roll toward the backs of their heads, but honestly this was peak dumbassery that made me chuckle. And there is so much to cover in terms of sly jokes, from Jen poking at Marvel’s infamous third-act problem to her asking K.E.V.I.N. about when we’ll see the X-Men, to which he says, “I cannot tell you that” (classic Kevin).”

She-Hulk’s Extra Easter Eggs

     Marvel / Disney

But the fourth wall breaks weren’t the only thing fans had opinions about. With the number of constant connections and hints at other Marvel properties, half the fun of watching She-Hulk came from how it will affect the rest of the Marvel Universe.

Fans were astounded just to get that little Wolverine Easter egg. And the audience nearly lost it when Wong’s cameo almost introduced Mephisto. At the beginning of the series, when Bruce Banner left for Sakaar, there were rumors of World War Hulk – which might still be happening. But now that Bruce has returned with his son Skaar, some fans thought that the implications of this rumored character might mean something different:

Still, many fans are just excited that there might be a World War Hulk movie. As She-Hulk mentioned in her conversation with K.E.V.I.N., as she cut him off, she told him to “Save it for the movie.” So fans may have wanted something different out of the show simply because of the hype it generated for itself. People often see hints and make assumptions, and when they aren’t fulfilled, everyone is disappointed. But it’s important to remember that the MCU still has a long way to go with making these stories, and there are many more surprises to come.

“It has been rumored for some time that Skaar would be brought into the MCU at some point, but having it tossed into the last scene of She-Hulk seemed a bit hurried and “Oh by the way, here’s another Hulk.” The first appearance of the character also goes against the comic version of Skaar, who is full of rage for his father abandoning him and goes so far as to want to kill Bruce Banner, whereas in She-Hulk, he seems to be rather meek and much more like Banner’s Smart Hulk.”