Instead of She-Hulk Season 2, the MCU Has a Better Use for Jennifer Walters

More than a year since the debut of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law the Marvel Studios legal comedy is still the subject of much debate. Some fans adored the meta humor about the fans and the Marvel Cinematic Universe itself. Others found it too oblique for their tastes, or they saw a bit too much of themselves in the series’ villains. In 2024, there’s been discussion about whether Jennifer Walters will return for Season 2, but there might be a more budget-conscious way to bring She-Hulk back.

The conversation around Marvel’s first superhero attorney started when lead actor Tatiana Maslany said Season 2 likely wasn’t happening. “I don’t think [She-Hulk: Attorney at Law] is coming back. I think we blew our budget, and Disney was like, ‘No thanks,'” she said on a Twitch stream. However, Disney’s public relations machine went to work and commented on background to other outlets, saying She-Hulk Season 2 may still happen. As with all things streaming, if fans of Shulkie stream the series repeatedly, Disney brass will realize there is a demand for more. Yet, like with all of Marvel Studios’ projects, the concerns aren’t really about reception but rather the cost. Perhaps instead of a second season, Marvel Studios specials are the answer.

She-Hulk’s Budget Was Reportedly Astronomical

Modern audiences have been served well when it comes to quality visual effects in both film and television productions. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was a nine-episode series with each installment running about a half hour. Yet, there were multiple fully computer-generated characters in episodes and sometimes in scenes together. Some episodes also featured the central character in She-Hulk form more than her human one. Thus, when Marvel VFX insiders say the budget was more than $25 million per episode, it’s easy to believe.

$25 million per episode is quite a lot for a television series, even though — with 137.7 million subscribers in 2022 — it represented a quarter of the monthly revenue for Disney+ while it was streaming. Still, overinflated budgets are a big problem across television and film, especially with how VFX-heavy MCU projects are. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is unique and if it was airing in 2024 instead of 2022, the finale’s message about how messy Marvel endings are with big CGI-infused battles might hit differently with audience members.

This was not to decry the miracles that digital VFX make happen on-screen, either. After all, She-Hulk was a fully computer-generated character. Bringing her to life that way was the only way it could’ve worked, especially over a series. Yet, perhaps the best way to keep both She-Hulk and Tatiana Maslany in the MCU loop during this time is to abandon the idea of a multi-episode series. Instead, a series of specials could keep Jennifer Walters’s brand of humor in the mix while also creating more connective tissue for the disparate stories in the era of the Marvel multiverse.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Is One of Marvel’s Best Series

One thing comic book fans often complain about in the modern era of superhero films aplenty is how they deviate from the source material. This is the natural progression of adaptations, especially when the source material is decades old. Stories, characters and concepts that worked in the pages of comics in the 1980s may not play as well in live-action at the end of the first quarter of the 21st Century. Part of the reason these characters have persisted for more than 50 (or in the case of DC Comics, 80-plus) years is because they evolve with their audiences. Today, even the casual moviegoer is more well-versed in the high-concept sci-fi that makes up superhero stories.

The Sensational She-Hulk from the 1980s is a prime example. The story and character elements John Byrne mined for humor wouldn’t work for today’s audiences. Yet, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is perhaps one of the most spiritually honest adaptations of any Marvel project. From the fourth-wall breaking humor to the in-narrative critique of the genre’s tropes were all present in the show. Jennifer Walters famously said in one episode that superheroes were all “billionaires, narcissists and adult orphans,” which is a spot-on critique.

The show’s most biting critique is even more relevant today. In the Season 1 finale, Jennifer met K.E.V.I.N., a baseball hat-wearing artificial intelligence who created algorithmically “perfect” stories. Her closing argument about how her show should end contained many of the complaints modern fans have today about projects like Secret Invasion or Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios’ first official “flop.” While the story of Jennifer Walters coming into her own power was fantastic, it’s the potential for MCU satire that makes her a most valuable player.

Why She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Should Return as Marvel Studios Specials

There haven’t been any Marvel Studios Specials since Werewolf by Night and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. The releases for Disney+ have continued to be television series with limited episode counts. However, the last two have been released in odd ways. What If…? Season 2 debuted over nine days, while the TV-MA Echo dropped all at once.

The strategy of releasing episodes week-to-week is meant to keep subscribers longer. However, if that model is being abandoned, then Marvel Studios should look to specials. The only Marvel Studios release for 2024 is Deadpool 3, at least on the big screen. Another fourth-wall breaking hero, it seems like a natural continuation of his story to have him paired with She-Hulk. If he ends up in the proper MCU, a Marvel Studios special where She-Hulk has to defend him sounds like fun.

A 60-to-90-minute special featuring She-Hulk and characters from a new or recent release could help make the universe feel more connected again. Yet, it wouldn’t be in a way that makes casual viewers feel intimidated. In the brilliant Daredevil episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Matt Murdock casually revealed the Sokovia Accords had been repealed. As the MCU finds itself mired in continuity, specials could help clarify incongruities or plot details overlooked in other releases.

One reason some people were so vocal about their disdain for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was the show skewered them specifically. The second episode opened with fictional social media posts from people angry that there was suddenly a female Hulk. Written months before the first episode premiered, they were almost word-for-word what the usual suspects decrying the “M-She-U” were wailing about on Twitter and YouTube. There is, sadly, always an audience for that kind of hate, and She-Hulk is the perfect character to satirize how silly and harmful that can actually be.

However, by pairing She-Hulk with characters from recent MCU projects, it helps to further entrench the character in this universe. It allows for comedy and stories that can satirize the things about these stories that can annoy fans. Everything from property-destroying mega-battles to the lack of consequences for heroes and villains when credits roll on the films. A She-Hulk special is the perfect way to continue to flesh out the MCU in a real, grounded way and still having fun with the characters, situations and inherently silly elements of comics-based storytelling.

As the larger MCU rolls towards a new slate of Avengers films, the team will need a new roster. In fact, rumors suggest the two movies will have different Avengers teams tackling new problems. She-Hulk belongs on at least one roster of Avengers (at least according to the 1980s comics, the Fantastic Four), but the character would need to match the tone of the films. A series of She-Hulk specials would be cheaper to produce — especially since the VFX assets would already exist — and allow her to continue be the character the series defined her to be.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Season 1 is streaming on Disney+.