Welcome to your daily roundup of the biggest Marvel news. This Thursday saw the debut of the second episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, the latest MCU series to unfold on Disney Plus, which somehow managed to be even more packed with mind-blowing Easter eggs, connections, and potential foreshadowing for the franchise’s future than last week’s premiere.
Specifically, She-Hulk episode two squeezed in a subtle tease for the formation of the Thunderbolts, a long-awaited callback to Eternals‘ biggest mystery, and a promise that a certain adamantium-clawed mutant is on his way into the MCU. Meanwhile, showrunner Jessica Gao dropped a major bombshell that may give us an idea of where Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is headed next. Let’s take a look.
Is that you, Logan?
As a reminder to always read the fine print, even when watching a TV series, She-Hulk slipped a massive bit of X-Men foreshadowing into its second episode in one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shot.
When Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters is shown browsing new career opportunities on her laptop, the website she’s on features a headline that reads, “Man fights with metal claws in bar brawl.” Metal claws? Bar brawl? That can only mean one thing: Mr. James Howlett himself is already out there, causing mayhem in drinking dens across the nation, ahead of the arrival of the X-Men.
Similarly, the same website also sports another eye-grabbing article, asking, “Why is there a giant statue of a man sticking out of the ocean?” This hilarious headline is obviously a nod to the end of Eternals, finally answering fan demand for literally any kind of reaction to Tiamut the Celestial’s calcified corpse.
World War Hulk, here we come!
In addition to this, She-Hulk episode two also saw Bruce Banner jetting off into space. Naturally, fans are left with a lot of questions, although those often found with their noses in a comic book will likely have some idea of what’s going on here. Could World War Hulk be on the horizon?
You know, it very well may be. Showrunner Jessica Gao has explained that, while Hulk being written out in this way was partially done in order to keep audience’s attentions on Jen, it was also implemented to feed the grander narrative of the saga and will be further explored in “future MCU projects.”
Seeing as it’s long been rumored that a World War Hulk adaptation of some kind is quietly in development, Gao may have just given us our first official indication that the spinoff really has been greenlit (Hulk pun intended).
Abomination’s got some friends on the outside
Last but not least, Tim Roth returned as Emil Blonsky/Abomination for the first time in the flesh in today’s She-Hulk, following his cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In doing so, he might have paved the way for the Thunderbolts movie that was just announced to be part of Marvel’s Phase Five slate, hitting theaters in summer 2024.
When trying to convince Jen of his reformed personality, Blonsky spoke about the prison pen pals he’s made, calling them his “seven soulmates” and voicing his desire that he achieve parole so he can settle down in polyamorous bliss on a farm. Marvel detectives aren’t buying it, though, and are convinced that these seven friends waiting for him on the outside are actually the other members of the all-villain super-team.
Check in tomorrow for our next daily Marvel news roundup.