Throughout She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) has had her life upended in more ways than one. A simple road trip with her cousin Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) went south after their car crashed, and Jennifer wound up being infected with Bruce's gamma-irradiated blood. Said blood transforms her into a Hulk; although unlike her cousin she can change back into human form. Then there's her new job at the law offices of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway, where she practices superhuman law and takes on all manner of clients. But the latest episode, "Mean, Green, & Poured Straight Into These Jeans," leads Jennifer to fully embrace her gamma-irradiated half — even if it is in a rather unorthodox manner.
Finding Yourself... Through Copyright Law?
"Mean, Green, & Poured Straight Into These Jeans" once again pits Jennifer against super-strong influencer Titania (Jameela Jamil), who she traded blows with in the pilot episode, "A Normal Amount Of Rage." This time, Titania has slapped Jennifer with a copyright lawsuit over the use of the "She-Hulk" name. What follows is an intriguing look at copyright law, as Jennifer tries to prove that the She-Hulk name is hers with the help of fellow GLK&H lawyer Mallory Book (Renée Elise Goldsberry). (One of the most hilarious moments features Jen asking if Doctor Strange and Thor had to trademark their names...only for Book to point out that those are their real names). But the case also serves as a way for Jen to come to terms with the label of "She-Hulk."
Initially, Jennifer didn't even want to be called "She-Hulk," as it was a label the media slapped her with. She just wanted to get on with her life, and felt extremely uncomfortable that she was hired for GLK&H solely on the basis of her powers. The latest episode has her potentially rethinking this, especially in the opening scene. Jen wakes up and is immediately bombarded with ads featuring "She-Hulk By Titania." It's on her television. It's on giant billboards lining her route to work. It even shows up on her favorite podcast! Another clue comes when Jen's friend Nikki (Ginger Gonzaga) asks her if she's really ok with Titania taking the name. Jen says she is...while slowly crumpling a stapler into a misshapen mass of metal. Even if she doesn't feel entirely comfortable taking on the She-Hulk moniker, she clearly doesn't want it to be associated with someone as vapid and self-serving as Titania.
And the way that Jennifer finally triumphs over Titania also doubles as a way of her accepting her She-Hulk identity. When grousing to Nikki about how her case took a turn for the worse, Jennifer realizes that she made a dating profile as She-Hulk -— ergo, the identity belongs to her. Book then brings in all of Jen's dates as witnesses (and proves her point that dating in your 30s really is its own special kind of hell), where they talk about how great She-Hulk is. This gets Titania's case revoked, but it also leads to Jen realizing that She-Hulk may be a positive force in her life. The episode ends with her picking up new super suits (for her law work and presumably superhero side adventures) from designer Luke (Griffin Matthews), showing that she's taking the next step in fully embracing her alter ego.
Though She-Hulk's early comic adventures took a different path than the show, they too featured Jennifer struggling with embracing her identity — especially when she transformed into the "Savage She-Hulk" identity. However, as time went on she grew more and more confident in her She-Hulk form and finally decided to stay in it permanently. Though there are four episodes left in She-Hulk: Attorney At Law, it seems to be hinting at a similar path for Maslany's take on Jen. After all, it wouldn't be the first time a Marvel hero has gone on a journey to embrace the other side of themselves.