Cast This: Marvel's She-Hulk

Cast This: Marvel’s She-Hulk

June 21st 2017, 11:08am

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

With the box office success of WONDER WOMAN, hopefully DC Comics' amazing Amazon will open the floodgates for even more adaptations of strong comic book superwomen who are still awaiting the live-action treatment, including a personal fave: Marvel's feisty jade giantess herself, She-Hulk.

TANK GIRL director Rachel Talalay (who furthered her comic book bona fides with episodes of "The Flash" and "Supergirl") recently expressed interest in bringing the sensational She-Hulk to life. And although no project featuring the character has been officially announced yet (not since the aborted Brigitte Nielsen movie in the 90s), it seems like just a matter of time before we see the lovely green lady flex her gamma-infused muscles on either big or (more likely) small screens.

First introduced (by Stan Lee) in 1980's "Savage She-Hulk" comic, Jennifer Walters is the cousin of Bruce Banner, alternately known by his larger and more destructive identity as the Incredible Hulk. After suffering a serious injury, Jennifer received an emergency transfusion of Bruce's radioactive blood, a procedure that (as one might expect from a comic book origin story) imbued her with remarkable super-powers.

Jennifer transformed into She-Hulk, inheriting a degree of her monstrous relative's incredible strength and invulnerability (and green skin, obviously), but with the fortunate ability to retain her intelligence and control the change from ordinary human form to powerful physique. While she often wears a costume and puts her mighty anatomy to heroic use as part of the Avengers and Fantastic Four, Walters is also a proficient defense lawyer and worked in the Superhuman Law division of a New York firm.

Even with the popularity of Marvel's movies and the surplus of costumed superheroes on TV, general audiences might have a hard time taking a statuesque green woman named She-Hulk seriously. And the aspect of absurdity is really something the live-action iteration should embrace.

Many of the more entertaining She-Hulk solo comic stories (like notable runs by John Byrne and Dan Slott) took a playful approach with the character and wisely focused on placing her in various outlandish situations: contending with C-list supervillains, breaking the fourth wall (before it was popularized by Deadpool), dealing with relationship complications, and getting involved in ludicrous legal cases.

That last point should undoubtedly be the focus of a She-Hulk TV series (on Netflix or elsewhere) — concentrate on the bizarre legal problems that would arise from a world increasingly populated by heroes and villains with superpowers, with the assertive and vivacious Walters in the middle using her judicial expertise, sharp wit and astonishing physical ability to sort matters. It would also be a perfect opportunity to present some of the more peculiar minor characters of the Marvel Universe who would otherwise never get a chance on the screen.

Unlike her big-screen relative, She-Hulk wouldn't even necessarily need to be a CGI construction thanks to current technology and talent. The difference between "normal" Jennifer Walters and her emerald alter-ego could be accomplished through performance, camera trickery, makeup and/or post-production coloring, and the larger-than-life super-body could be achieved with costume padding or a little digital enhancement (similar to the way some famous stars get trimmed or muscular after filming courtesy of various visual effects companies).

So who has the winning personality and physical fitness to convincingly portray both halves of She-Hulk?

In WARCRAFT, Paula Patton showed she looks great in green (which was done through post-production rather than body paint) and would look even better without the pointy underbite. On the TV series "iZombie", actress Aly Michalka is accustomed to amusing weirdness considering her best friend eats brains to solve crimes (bonus — she's already a TV lawyer!). And it still seems criminal that Jessica Biel hasn't been a comic book character (at least in a better production than BLADE TRINITY).

Let us know below who you think would make a sensational She-Hulk!