I'm not equipped to say what bad or good writing is, tbh, but I see it like this:
This show is like a silly, throwaway comic book - anything can happen and it doesn't matter. It's colourful and fun with a good bit of heart. Comics are often like this - it's what makes them a unique medium, imo. Characters from other titles turn up. Crap temporary characters come and go. Motivations and plots are often paper-thin, but what the hell. For me, when this happens in a title that seems to be serious and straight-faced (hello and fuck you, Batman) I hate it, but in a book that's playing for laughs (hey, Deadpool, you legend) it's all good. And this is where She-Hulk is for me.
The dialogue is fun, I fully care about Jen, and they've taken their time in earning our empathy with her before showing a serious threat. Works for me.
It's become a thing where, now that the MCU has begun to diversify its tones and plots and writing, that fans who wanted more of the same are complaining. In hindsight, it's pretty ironic considering that, through Phase 2, a lot of the complaints about the MCU was that it was pretty same-y - arrogant protagonist learns a lesson, fights a one-off villain who is pretty much the hero but evil/misunderstood, and everyone has quips. But now that we've gotten things like Eternals, Doctor Strange 2, Moon Knight, WandaVision, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk, people are just not into it. Maybe it's fatigue, maybe these varying tones just aren't hitting the older audiences who got used to the "MCU Formula", or perhaps they just weren't ready for it all.
Personally, I love it all. As a comic reader growing up, I knew that different books, characters and stories were all trying different things, and no two comics were alike. I like that, in the same year, we get stories about Moon Knight, Doctor Strange, and She-Hulk and they're not all tonally the same. Heck, even the recent Werewolf By Night gave us something completely different, and it ended up being pretty damn good!
I think it's also just a case of "too much too soon". The pandemic really squished up their schedule, and everything we've gotten since Black Widow was supposed to be stretched out between 2020-2022. For die-hards who eat this all up, it's been a buffet of delights, but for those who have felt burnt-out since Endgame, they've probably felt overwhelmed and underwhelmed at the same time.
Every show/movie isn't going to be for everyone, and that has been the case since day 1, but now it's become way more apparent that that's how the MCU will operate from here on out. Giving different characters wildly different tones and stories, lead by many different directors and producers. I'm hoping that Kevin Feige will see what has stuck with fans these past two years and adjust course appropriately, given how much content they're planning between now and the end of 2026!
-Marc.
Topic: Marvel Studios' She-Hulk: Attorney At Law (Disney+) - S1 Finale OUT NOW! (Read 18434 times)