This episode very much might be the set-up for something bigger.

While we are both loving She-Hulk, Episode 4 certainly wasn’t quite as exciting as the rest of the episodes have been. But this makes me think we are gearing up for something huge in the next episode. Not to mention, post-Taylor and I recording our reactions to Episode 4, a trailer for the second half of the show dropped, which you can view down below. Seeing all this footage for the last 5 episodes reinvigorates my belief that this episode was just a one-off to help prep the change in tone for the second half of the show. But before I get into all these thoughts, make sure you listen to the entire podcast episode by either clicking the link below or following the button to find your platform of choice.

The biggest thing that happened in this episode took place within the final minute. Titania is making her return to the show after being fairly quiet since the 30-second fight scene in Episode 1. While it wasn’t exactly a climactic return and we didn’t actually get to see her, it is safe to say that I imagine this Titania storyline is what will carry us through the rest of the series. Up until now, we have been getting one storyline per 2 episodes. Episodes 1 and 2 featured Hulk, 2 and 3 had the Abomination storyline, and 3 and 4 had Wong present and playing a pivotal role. Now that Jen is facing a direct legal threat (and likely a real threat very soon), I think that this formula might be broken to focus primarily on the trial that will likely come between her and Titania. We also know from the new trailer that they clearly get into at least one physical altercation, so I can imagine we will be having to focus mainly on this hero/villain dynamic.

Now that we are just about halfway through the series, it is safe to say we are going to be facing a turning point. This turning point is going to come on several fronts, including the one I mentioned before, but also that I think we are going to begin seeing more superhero She-Hulk. The first half of the series has put a really heavy emphasis on Jen (even in Hulk form). Jen partially resents being She-Hulk, as She-Hulk is what people want more than Jen. We have been seeing this struggle, along with Jen being a lawyer and trying to live her life as normally as possible. It is highly likely that after Episode 5, we will be seeing a higher acceptance level of She-Hulk and will be seeing her take on more of a superhero role. I’m 100% not saying the lawyer aspect is gone, but I think we will see a tone shift in which that will take a backseat to be a hero (which was also lowkey predicted by Jen in Episode 1). By the end of this series, Jen will likely have learned to properly integrate her two halves and the lives they live, ironically the same type of struggle her cousin went through.

Since this came up in the podcast as well, let’s get into Daredevil. Looking at the new trailer and the Daredevil news we have gotten, Daredevil is very likely to come within the next episode or two. What is really interesting is that he appears to possibly share his identity with Jen, as we see him both as Matt and suited up as Daredevil. Even better, the two share some flirty scenes that make my heart happy. I think Jen might bring him in to help her on the Titania case, or Daredevil shows up to help fight initially. Both are possible fronts now that we have this confirmation. It also is interesting that it seems Matt is trying to get Jen to essentially operate sort of like he does, with Jen being the boss in the court and upholding the law, but She-Hulk enforcing it. I believe he is only in one episode, but he seems to make quite an impact so I would hope we might see Jen appear now in the Daredevil show that is slated.

Additionally, something super important to note is that it was been said that the future Daredevil show will not pick up on the old one, instead, it is a new storyline. This means that the thoughts we had about Kingpin might be getting diminished, but also might somehow be getting the light shown on them. It is possible, if Kingpin is behind some of this in She-Hulk, that that will bleed into the new Daredevil and be the origin of their rivalry. We will have hopefully some more confirmation around these thoughts when Matt graces our screens, very soon. This news at least means that the likely reason for Matt showing up isn’t because he was following Kingpin and it might mean we won’t get full confirmation that Kingpin is or isn’t behind the attack on Jen.

There is also some news coming post-recording of She-Hulk Episode 4 but is important to things we have spoken about before. The Thunderbolts cast has been confirmed and Abomination doesn’t appear in the lineup. I have some thoughts on this and the main one is that I still wholeheartedly believe he will be there. The Thunderbolts have had many join their ranks in the comics, including Abomination, and don’t hold to the 6 member roster that the Avengers did for the first two films (Wanda, Pietro, and Vis were still latecomers). I think it is highly possible he will still be recruited as a part of the team, but as She-Hulk hasn’t finished and we have gotten more unseen footage of him in the new trailer, they may not have wanted to spoil his ending. It is very likely we are going to get Valentina recruiting him like she did John and Yelena and this is something they don’t want to step on. I am going to run with this theory since I truly don’t know why else he would have been brought back and let out of prison other than having a spot on the Thunderbolts roster.

Since this episode gave a little less in the form of theory-driven content, I have to assume it was a lead-up episode to something much bigger. I do expect more from Episode 5 because of this, but also all the news out of D23 has made quite some impactful conclusions on some She-Hulk characters. It makes me even more excited for what is coming in this show and where the second half will lead Jen, Matt, and Emil. There will be a special additional blog post covering some of the announcements from D23, so while I did mention some, a full list with thoughts and theories will be coming, so keep an eye out. Until then and until our next post covering She-Hulk Episode 5, keep up with all the content, since Marvel just blew your mind, so let’s talk about it.

Image: “She-Hulk Episode 4”, Rachel Paige, Marvel