'She-Hulk' Finally Solves a 'Shang-Chi' Credits Scene Mystery
She-Hulk episode 1 spoilers follow.
If the MCU has taught us anything over the past 14 years, it’s that it ain’t easy being green. Just ask Bruce Banner.
From being dealt a life-changing dose of gamma radiation to being trapped as Hulk for years as the plaything of the Grandmaster, he's had it rough. Not to mention how Bruce also lost Natasha Romanoff and took the brunt of the Infinity Stones when he snapped half the population back to life.
Off-screen, the middling reviews of Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk led to Edward Norton being recast, with Mark Ruffalo taking the role for The Avengers, while complicated rights issues mean we’re still not sure whether Disney can deliver another Hulk solo movie.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law brings Dr. Banner back to the forefront of the franchise in a big way, as Ruffalo plays second fiddle to Tatiana Maslany’s Jennifer Walters. The first episode is already a hit, and if that weren’t enough, it also clears up a dangling MCU mystery.
When the first She-Hulk trailers came out, viewers were confused by the show’s placement in the increasingly complicated MCU timeline. Avengers: Endgame concluded with Banner stuck in his Smart Hulk form and sporting an arm brace because of his injuries. When he popped up in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he was back as regular Banner... but again had the brace. She-Hulk promos only added to the confusion by featuring Smart Hulk with a normal-looking arm.
The franchise’s timeline can be confusing at the best of times, but thankfully, the She-Hulk premiere confirms a pretty linear story that takes place after Shang-Chi and its post-credit scenes.
Back then, Wong (Benedict Wong) called on Banner and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) to investigate the titular Ten Rings sending a signal into the depths of space. In She-Hulk, Walters goes full Deadpool and breaks the fourth wall to explain how she got her powers.
The MCU is no stranger to Lost-esque flashbacks, and here, we learn that Jen and her cousin were involved in a car accident "a few months" earlier—placing it just after Shang-Chi.
Shang-Chi is more important than you think, with She-Hulk also revealing how we got from Endgame’s Smart Hulk to regular Banner in a sling.
Before Bruce and Jennifer are run off the road by a spaceship, the former explains how he’s been able to take control of his wayward green side thanks to a device on his wrist that subdues any Hulk tendencies.
When the pair crash, Bruce’s infected blood gets into Jennifer's veins and triggers her transformation into She-Hulk. After her first big Hulk out, she wakes up in Bruce’s Mexico lab and he says he’s back as Smart Hulk because his tech has been damaged.
The revelations don’t stop there, and Banner later reveals that he and Jennifer share an ability to process gamma radiation in a different way from other humans. It’s possible that this is the same with the power of the Infinity Stones, because Bruce previously explains that his arm only started to heal when he spent a prolonged amount of time as himself.
As much as Hulk mocks "puny Banner," he has some uses apart from his big brain. We’re guessing the big guy will return at some point, but for the time being, he’s locked away somewhere in the recesses of Smart Hulk’s mind.
Even though the main events of Walters in the courtroom—when Jameela Jamil’s Titania bursts in — take place after the accident, the gap between Shang-Chi, her training, and returning to work isn’t as big as some thought. It’s definitely not the 15 years Bruce thought he’d have to keep his cousin isolated in Mexico so she’d be able to assimilate her personalities.
Unlike Bruce and Hulk who both exist as separate entities, She-Hulk is just a mantle Walters takes on when she turns into her own gamma gal.
It’s possible that Bruce’s meddling in Shang-Chi caused him to be run off the road in She-Hulk. Although Bruce recognizes a Sakaarian Class-Eight courier craft from the junker planet we saw in Thor: Ragnarok, we never saw who is at the controls—meaning it could be Jeff Goldblum's Grandmaster or someone else entirely.
While we don’t know whether the Shang-Chi post-credits was teasing an arc for its sequel, Larson’s return for The Marvels, or a mythical World War Hulk movie, at least She-Hulk clears up another of those nagging plot points we were worried we’d have to wait an eternity for an answer to.
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