Why She-Hulk is everything that is wrong with the MCU | Video Essay

She-Hulk has come to an end and it essentially embodies everything that is wrong with the MCU. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has had many projects in Phase 4 that haven't exactly resonated with fans due to their dip in quality. In this Video Essay we discuss why She Hulk is everything that is wrong with the MCU. We touch on She-Hulk, Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness, Thor Love and Thunder, Spiderman No Way Home and more to prove why.

She Hulk - (2022)
Thor: Love & Thunder - (2022)
Doctor Strange: In The Multiverse of Madness - (2022)
Eternals - (2021)
Moon Knight - (2022)
Wanda Vision - (2021)

Intro - 0:00
Part 1 - 1:54
Part 2 - 10:26
Summary/Outro - 24:04

[sandy]

Honestly, the problem that I have with phase four is that it's lazy. The MCU has gotten too complacent and relying on cameos, nostalgia, and hype to keep it going, they don't have to put in effort anymore and they quit trying. Werewolf by Night stood out so much because Michael Giacchino isn't lazy. He directed the special and did the score.

[ThelcarusWing]

The biggest problem I had with the fourth wall breaks was that they seemed to be used for the sole purpose of explaining what was happening to the audience. This really hurt the show because the writers made characters so weak, bland, and one dimensional, that the messages they were trying to display would have been invisible unless it was literally spelled out for the audience. The show expected the audience to forget its characters and miss undertones because they were so poorly written in the first place, that the only way they could make sure people understood what was happening was to exposition dump directly to the audience. The fourth wall breaks were never funny, and stifled all creativity that could have gone into the show.

[kyacook]

Thank you for pointing out that comparing Jen to Bruce is a terrible idea. May be men do not experience as must sexism as women, but it does not mean they do not experience other things happening in their life. Bruce was never cat called but he was hunted like a monster, abused, lost his mother and teammates, and was suicidal. At least Jen never had to feel like that. Jen does not know what Bruce goes through and neither does he. I wish they could have made Jen sympatric. Those are just my thoughts

[coldshock]

To me the biggest thing I hate about the MCU right now is it's not taking itself seriously and making prior events seem like they didn't matter at all. Hell, the she hulk finale makes it seem like the whole MCU doesn't actually exist, should have ended at endgame.

[WeiYinChan]

I remember in primary school creative writing classes, our teachers banned the “and then I woke up, it was all a dream” ending. Because it’s a lazy cop out for when we wrote ourselves so to a corner with a crazy none sense story.

The “I talked to the writer and the ending is now changed” thing is essentially that. Can’t believe the richest franchise in entertainment is using the lazy cop out ending I was banned from using at 7 years old.

[yanetybanez]

It breaks my heart how much I fell out of love with Marvel. I miss the days where the newest movie was coming out and I couldn’t wait to go run and watch it. Now I find myself struggling to get excited about anything they release now.

[ly-shoy]

The MCU and some of it's fans nowadays can't handle criticism, they'd rather hype up something that needs some work rather than give constructive criticism which can be used to help these projects improve but if you point that out, then to them, you're just part of the problem.

[aolegion]

In my opinion the 4th wall breaks work in Deadpool because we know he's kinda nuts. So from a in universe prospective he could just be talking to himself. The MCU isn't set up that way. We know Jen is talking directly to us. She isn't just thinking out loud.

[malikon]

your well made point about, "thinking it's a lot smarter than it is" and thinking the audience is dumb is a huge problem in Hollywood these days. Not just with the MCU. It's why tons and tons of people are starting to discover Korean and foreign films and tv shows. Quite frankly they're just doing them better. They spend a lot of time developing stories and characters and can't just fall back on SPFX to sell a show.

[marcuseverett]

Did anyone notice she had a problem with Hulk helping her at the end because it was "her story;" yet we've watched Loki, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, Moon Knight, and Thor, be damn near bystanders next to their female counterparts?

[rjaxxxas]

I found the meta moment of pointing out how bad the last episode was, came across as ironic. As if it implies that the creators took advantage of the '4th wall' breaking aspect of the character and used it as an excuse to write something poor.
Pointing out how bad something is doesn't automatically make it less bad.

[samcler]

Marvel recently substantially delayed some large projects like Fantastic Four, Blade, and Secret Wars, and I’m hoping they’ve realized what’s wrong and are trying to put more time into these projects

[Badwolf]

We know where the ending came from. According to the writers themselves they had over 20 thrown out endings before they decided on this. Which basically had to retcon everything. Other comments and interviews from them, the writing staff, seems to talk about how it was extremely challenging process, writing.

We have one story, again from the head writer, how she almost quit because the robot marvel boss was not going to have a hat. We learn that they had constant clashes with the studio and between each other. Where someone was basically on board to meditate, and had to do so multiple times.

What does this mean. The writers themselves admit they did a poor job and basically seems they pitched episode ideas and tried to pick which ones were the best, having no connection with each other.

[laughingmask]

She-Hulk also fails at being SHE-HULK. Jen, the REAL Jen from the comics and 90s She-Hulk cartoon, is fun, friendly, full of empathy and friendly sass, she's flirty and LOVES being She-Hulk and she's independent and confident without being arrogant and certainly she doesn't lament and complain about what she doesn't have.
Also in Bruce's childhood, his father was ferociously abusive and even murdered his mother in front of them. The only person Bruce could rely on, his entire life, his only friend in the world until he met Betty Ross and Rick Jones, was Jen. His cousin.
This series was character assassination at its most brutal, especially for how she treated Bruce and belittled him for his struggles and traumas.

[BountyHunter-epjk]

She-Hulk meeting the writers and meeting ‘Kevin’ is a very funny idea,
but it overstayed its welcome and just felt like the writers both giving themselves a Deus Ex Machina while somehow patting themselves on the back for doing it..

[PatrickWDunne]

I'm so glad that you brought up The Boys as a contrast. That show has way more political commentary, but everyone loves it. It's also way better than any MCU show.

[TwistedHound]

You can tell that Tatiana was trying her absolute best to make this show watchable. I really don't think I would have made it through this show without her as she-hulk. Her and the daredevil cameo gave this show a slight breath of life.

[ijustawannaprivicie]

Werewolf By Nighthad almost no jokes that I remember and it was extremely well done. Would love to see a prequel in the same stylistic design on the big screen.

[Small_child_punter]

19:10 well said. They picked the worst POSSIBLE target to send this message.

[Snowolf]

RDJ probably saw the phase 4 stories and jokes and told Kevin I’m done, just let me die