She-Hulk Smashes Lists!

While it could go either way, you know a piece of entertainment’s keeping in the cultural consciousness when it’s still being talked about long after it’s been released. This is the case with She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, a 9-episode Disney+ series that’s received as much ire as genuine praise. But I won’t delve too much into that. Instead, I’d like mention the show’s biggest strength: its comedy. Because the show has great gags and one-liners that are worth talking about. So that’s what I’ll do. Here are my Top 15 favourite jokes/gags in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

As always, major spoilers inbound.

#15-Who’s Jen talking to?

Right from Episode 1’s first 4th wall break, it’s clear this show’s going for a lighthearted tone. But while most of the episode’s pretty conventional in its comedy, it’s near the end of the flashback, following Jen and Bruce’s big fight, that we get the subtlest, yet cleverest bit of 4th wall breaking. It’s only a few seconds long, but they make for a cute gag. It’s not even “Ha ha” funny, but it shows that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law isn’t afraid to call out its own absurdity. It also sets the stage for a later entry, but I’m getting ahead of myself…

Following Jen’s frustration with Bruce not letting her leave, their tension escalates into a physical fight. Despite Bruce being significantly bigger, Jen eventually gains the upper-hand. She even grabs Bruce’s foot and throws him into his gazebo, which he demands she fix with him. So they do. It’s here that Bruce tells Jen she’s welcome to return to her job. Jen, not buying it, turns to the screen and says, “He doesn’t mean that”. When Bruce looks at her confused, she responds by turning to the screen confused too.

While this isn’t harped on, it’s a cute nod to 4th wall breaks being absurd. Jen’s clearly talking to the audience, but who does that consist of? And why does Bruce respond when no one else does? Better yet, does everyone else ignore it? None of this is answered, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s a shame the trailers already spoiled the gag, or it’d be higher up.

#14-She-Hulk revealed

Keeping with the same episode, Jen’s reveal as She-Hulk is cute. Most superheroes in entertainment have gravitas to their reveals, and The MCU’s no exception. (Look at Spider-Man!) But in keeping with the tone, Jen’s reveal isn’t dramatic at all. It’s actually an inconvenience to her.

After returning to LA for a court case, Jen’s closing statement gets interrupted. A super-powered influencer named Titania has crashed the courtroom for…reasons, and she has a bone to pick with the jury because…also reasons. Realizing she has no choice, Jen kicks off her stilettos and transforms into She-Hulk. Once defeated, she turns back and gives her closing statement. End scene.

What makes this unique is that it’s unspectacular. Not only does Jen not enjoy it, but it ruins her life. She wins her case and saves peoples’ lives, but she gets fired and her job prospects shrink instantly. It’s as if she’s being punished, and the show doesn’t glamourize that. Nevertheless, it’s framed as comedic, so kudos for that!

#13-She-Hulk takes on her muggers

Picture this: you’re walking home alone. It’s dark out. Within minutes, you’re held up by muggers. What do you do? The common answer would be to scream for help, but this show takes a comedic approach.

It starts out conventionally, with Jen being accosted and screaming for help. But then she remembers that she’s a super-powered human and transforms. She then beats down her muggers like nothing. Like Bruce’s response to her 4th wall break, this is subtle-yet-clever humour. And even though she gets her skin penetrated, it doesn’t matter because she has impenetrable skin.

It's brilliant. It’s not a laugh out loud moment, unlike later entries on this list, but I had a small smirk while watching it. It’s cathartic for any woman who’s been attacked at night, but it’s also funny for anyone who “forgets” that they’re stronger than they thought. Like Jen’s realization that she can transform, people often don’t think outside the box in the heat of the moment. This show reminds us of that.

#12-Leap-Frog’s frivolous lawsuit

From his introduction in Episode 8, it was clear that Leap-Frog was lame. Whether it was lacking combat experience, or getting pummelled by two thugs, the character couldn’t have been more pathetic if he’d written “I suck!” on his chest in frog mucus. Fortunately, this leads to a humorous episode involving leg burns, a lawsuit against the same person who made She-Hulk’s wardrobe and the reintroduction of Matt Murdock outside of Spider-Man: No Way Home. It’s a strange combination, but hey! No one said She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was striving for professional accuracy, right?

What I like about this is that, outside of being goofy, it plays this scenario with tension and suspense. This is it, one attorney with superpowers against another attorney with superpowers. It’s the female Gamma radiation victim against the blind guy who uses echolocation to see. Both are confident they’ll win, opposition be damned! It doesn’t matter that Jen’s representing a client of her tailor, she’s determined to wipe his smug grin off his face!

And then…the punchline: Leap-Frog’s accident was a result of negligence. He didn’t read the fine print and used jet fuel to escape. This caused his suit to malfunction and his legs to get charred. Jen, realizing her client’s an idiot, decides to eat her losses. That’s all folks!

#11-Twerking with Meghan Thee Stallion

One of the running themes in this show is how ridiculous and toxic men are sometimes. That’s also its running commentary. Unfortunately, art mimics reality, which in turn copies art, and this is no exception. Case in point? She-Hulk takes on Meghan Thee Stallion to protect her against future identity theft. They then seal the deal with a twerking session in Jen’s office. And this has caused intense backlash.

I’ve covered how ridiculous the controversy surrounding this is already, so I won’t repeat myself. Instead, I’d like to zone-in on what this moment, a post-credits scene in Episode 3, is about: appeasing a celebrity client. That’s it. The show’s even aware that it’s silly by having Jen’s boss raise an eyebrow. Like I said, art mimics reality, which in turn copies art.

The best part? Jen states that she’d “kill” for her new client, and Meghan Thee Stallion immediately snaps her back to reality. Because that’s the kind of obnoxious rhetoric that super-fans of real celebrities use. It’s absurd, it’s tacky and it makes people take them less-seriously. I’m glad this show called it out.

#10-The group therapy session

I have to be honest: Emil Blonsky’s retreat contains some of the show’s best character writing. It’s also contains some of the best comedic writing. And sometimes they merge, like when Jen confronts her insecurity about living a dual life as She-Hulk. Admittedly, some of the hijinks of her support group are…a lot, but it’s a nice scene with honest character growth. I was also surprised by how well it represented support groups, especially as someone who’s been in a few myself.

The moment begins with Jen stumbling onto the support group while looking for good Wi-Fi to connect with her recent one-night stand. She’s not having success, so she sits down and explains what’s on her mind. In between tackling someone who tried to mug her as She-Hulk and the suggestions of everyone else, we get a real peek behind the curtain into Jen’s lack of self-confidence. We see that her superpowers feel like a burden to her, restricting her dating life. It’s only through the-admittedly forceful-persuasion of everyone else that she’s able to move on and accept herself for who she really is. It’s really sweet.

Of course, the side jokes help keep it from being draining. Like how one participant suggests stabbing her fling to get his attention, only for Blonsky to scold him. Or how another member finally removes his mask when Jen accepts who she is, only for everyone to insist he put it back on because he smells. Character touches like those make this scene chuckle-worthy. And it’s why this is at #10.

#9-She-Hulk VS Titania in court

Titania is a cautionary tale about insincerely using your powers for fame and glory. This comes to a head when Titania sues Jen over the name “She-Hulk”, suggesting that she’d used it first for her line of beauty products. Ignoring her ads, which use the word “She-Hulk” excessively, this court case is an example of Schadenfreude humour. It not only makes Jen a joke, it also forces her to humiliate herself to reclaim her title. In other words, it’s really funny.

I’m not sure what the best part is, honestly. Do I go with how the show pokes fun at copyright law? Or how Jen sinks further into her seat as each of the witnesses discuss how embarrassing Jen is? Or do I settle with how the judge rules in Jen’s favour out of pity? There are too many good moments to choose one.

Even Titania’s last words to Jen, “This isn’t over!”, feel straight out of Mean Girls. And that’s funny too. Because it makes Titania look like a spoiled brat, which she kind of is. This wouldn’t even be the last of her appearances, as she meant what she said! But I’m getting ahead of myself…

#8-“She-Hulk Smash!”

With Matt Murdock’s first appearance in Episode 8, we knew Daredevil was going to show up. And he did, as Jen later encounters him trying to capture Leap-Frog for answers. The two team up to free their mutual tailor, and we get some hints at mutual chemistry. But I’m getting ahead of myself again. For now, I’ll zone in on the first entry that warranted a sincere laugh. (Not that previous entries weren’t funny or cute.)

After debating how they’d infiltrate Leap-Frog’s lair and fight his goons, Daredevil decides to go it alone. Initially, we get a sense that this’ll be yet another hallway brawl akin to Daredevil on Netflix. With all the angles and choreography in place, it seems to go that way. But it’s short-lived. No sooner does the fight get intense when the ceiling breaks and Jen, as She-Hulk, lands on the goons, incapacitating them. And then she says her catchphrase, which is a riff on her cousin’s catchphrase.

I love it. I love the surprise of it. I love the timing of it. I love that it’s subverting audience expectations. I love that it’s funny. But most-importantly, I love how typical Jen it is. I love the whole moment, as-like I said-it made me laugh.

#7-The Intelligencia phone call

Episode 9 of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is when everything goes wrong for Jen. She’s baited by a misogynistic organization, gets arrested and thrown into a prison for super-powered individuals, loses her job and is bailed provided she never transform into She-Hulk again. Life couldn’t be worse, but she wants to find out what’s going on. Fortunately, her best friend Nikki wants to help, so she tracks down Intelligencia and ropes in a male colleague to help expose them. Once at their hideout, Nikki and the colleague infiltrate the Intelligencia meeting by pretending to be one of them.

How do they do this? With Nikki feeding lines via a cellphone earbud. If this sound ridiculous, it gets better! Not only does Nikki feed lines, she instructs her colleague to act like an incel and say stuff he’d never say, including calling women “females”. And he’s a terrible actor to-boot, constantly fumbling his words. It’s as embarrassing as it is hilarious, and it’s one of the show’s better jokes.

Oh, and the conversation cuts out spontaneously because of poor reception. Part of me wonders how no one could’ve predicted this, but honestly, who cares? For one, this is a show about a wise-cracking lawyer who turns into a 6-foot-7-inch monster. And two, this is a comedic series. If both of those points didn’t indicate that humour trumps logic, I can’t help you.

#6-She-Hulk’s date

Jen’s dating life sucks. She-Hulk’s dating life, on the other hand, is more lucrative. The show makes this clear with Jen only getting one match on Tinder that’s miserable, while She-Hulk has plenty of interested men lined up. Of course, most of those don’t end well either, but she does end up with someone who much prefers knowing about her. It’s all going great, and the two even head back to Jen’s apartment…but their make-out session’s interrupted by Wong asking her to resolve something she thought was already settled in court.

What follows is a fight with demon spawn in a theatre. As Jen pummels and sends them back to Hell, she whines about how she’d rather be back in her apartment. She eventually resolves the situation, but not before intimidating Donny Blaze, the orchestrator of this mess, into accepting a cease-and-desist. Donny accepts, and Jen returns to her apartment to find her date waiting for her. Classy.

And then, in a twist on the usual trope, Jen lifts up her date and carries him to her room, bumping into an overhead lamp. This might’ve been ruined in the trailer, hence it being this low, but I quite like the subversion. It’s cute, mildly humorous and plays on the notion that carrying a woman to bed is trite and cliché. Let the woman lift the man instead! I’d be game for that! Especially if she’s 6-foot-7-inches!

#5-The Nice Guy

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law routinely highlights the different levels of toxic masculinity. On one extreme, there’s Intelligencia, an incel-like organization whose goal is to make She-Hulk a threat. On the other extreme, there are more subtle inferences, like Bruce infantilizing Jen under the guise of trying to help her. And then there’s “The Nice Guy”. The Nice Guy’s heinous because it bottles sexism under a pleasant veneer, and this show has Mr. Immortal.

Mr. Immortal has a dilemma: he’s been married too many times, and he keeps faking his death to avoid staying in toxic relationships. However, it’s really his fault that his relationships go south. But when Nikki and Mallory drill him over his behaviour, Mr. Immortal considers them nags, jumps out a window and lands on a car. He then shakes it off like it was nothing. It’s hilarious.

This is easily one of the best jokes. There are several reasons for why, but the key is that it’s making fun of Mr. Immortal’s insecurities. We’d later find out that he’s also a chauvinist prick, but for now he’s an insecure man-baby who can’t face accountability. He’s also invincible. Fancy that.

#4-She-Hulk and Titania fight

You knew I’d circle back to Titania, didn’t you? It was clear from how she and Jen left off in Episode 5 that she’d return, and Episode 6 makes good on that by having them engage in combat. And it’s the funniest fight in the entire show. Why? Because it’s a wedding battle, and those often make for great comedy.

Beginning with Jen vomiting on the outside lawn from drinking too much, she’s confronted by Titania and shoved aside. It turns out that Titania really did weasel her way into the wedding so she could have revenge for being humiliated. Initially, Jen’s too drunk to fight back, but after regaining her clarity the two duke it out in the middle of the wedding hall. All the while, the DJ plays music.

This is great on its own, but it also has two punchlines. The first is the smaller one, where Titania relents because Jen cracked her veneer. It shows her vanity, and it’s fitting for her character. The bigger one is that Jen’s friend states that she’s excited to see She-Hulk at her wedding. Considering that Jen had promised earlier to not transform, it’s hilarious. I guess that’s alcohol for you!

#3-Madisynn testifies for Wong in court

From her introduction in Episode 4, it’s clear Madisynn was going to be a fun character. For one, she’s a party animal, constantly drunk and lacking inhibitions. And two, the way she spells her name is funny. (“Two ns, one y, but it’s not where you think!”) So when she ends up as a key witness in Wong’s lawsuit against Donny Blaze, despite ruining The Sopranos, I was giddy with joy. She didn’t disappoint either.

I’d go into detail about why Madisynn’s testimony is hilarious, but I lack the patience. Instead, I’ll zone-in on how nonchalant she is in the courtroom. From her entrance to her final line, her demeanour would be impossible to take seriously in a real trial. Yet, again, because this is a comedy show, it works. It works so well that I don’t even mind her ruining The Sopranos again once the scene is over.

But outside of that, Madisynn’s comedic perfection. She acts like a party animal. She’s always drunk. She speaks like a valley girl. She has a cute nickname for Wong. And she doesn’t care what everyone thinks of her. Essentially, she’s awesome.

#2-“Captain America fu-”

It was a tough choice between this and my #1 pick, but I chose this for my #2 spot. Why? Because not only do I have a lot to say on the top spot, but this joke was also ruined by the internet. I tend to wait until Marvel shows are nearing completion and binge them (save one exception), so I was behind on the discourse for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for about 8 weeks. As such, I didn’t mentally prepare myself for spoilers, and this joke, arguably the funniest in the entire show, was a casualty of me waiting. Still, credit where credit is due, and this is great on its own merits.

Episode 1 is the backstory episode. It feels it too, with Jen’s whole “training montage” involving her besting her cousin constantly. To be fair, he does win at the drunken belching contest, showing that, if all else, Bruce has the more powerful lungs. Also, cis men hold their alcohol better than their female counterparts, and I guess that Hulks are no different. But I’m getting off-topic.

The part that really gets me is the post-credits scene, where Jen’s in human mode and whining about how Captain America remained a virgin until his death. When Bruce points out that he actually lost his virginity in 1943, Jen’s sorrow turns to excitement. She screams the aforementioned “Captain America fu-” right before the credits cut her off, keeping with The MCU’s running joke of cutting off f-bombs. It’s funny even without that, and I still giggle thinking about it. After all, Captain America…you get the picture.

#1-Jen confronts K.E.V.I.N.

You knew I’d be tackling this eventually. Whether it’s the initial divisiveness, or how it’s still being talked about, Jen’s biggest 4th wall break is, essentially, the best moment in the entire series. And yes, you heard that correctly. And no, I’m not some blind sheep. I’m not fond of every troll move The MCU has pulled (I didn’t like The Mandarin’s reveal in Iron Man 3, despite it being retconned), so you can’t use that line on me. Moving on.

After confronting Intelligencia’s leader, everything goes haywire. Blonsky’s ready for battle, an incel’s now a Hulk, Titania shows up out of nowhere and Bruce returns for…reasons. Realizing that this is ridiculous, Jen transforms into She-Hulk, breaks through the show’s icon box on Disney+ and travels to Avengers Assembled to confront the show-runners. When they tell her that everything’s vetted by the higher ups, she travels to the head exec’s office and discovers the AI K.E.V.I.N.. She then haggles her way out of the finale’s “bad writing”. And because this is She-Hulk, a character notorious for this, it somehow works?

I’m not kidding: this really is a quintessential She-Hulk moment. And considering that Jen’s been breaking the 4th wall constantly, it also makes a lot of sense. Granted, perhaps some of the dialogue was too on-the-nose? Maybe Daredevil shouldn’t have been added for no reason? Perhaps this is all true. But given that, again, this is a comedy series, I still think it’s the show’s funniest moment. (Stay mad.)

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And that about does it. Be sure to give this a read, and I’ll see you next time!