She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is now streaming on Disney+, and as with all Marvel properties, it’s bursting with Easter eggs, references, callbacks, and other goodies. Here are all the MCU Easter eggs and references we found!
She-Hulk Episode 1 Easter Eggs: “A Normal Amount of Rage”
Episode 1 contains some lovely tributes to the fallen Avengers, plus some references to other Marvel and Disney projects.
Some remixed classic catch phrases
In the first scene, Jen and her friend Nikki are getting ready for their court appearance and Jen practices her closing argument. The first line she says is, “What is the responsibility of those with power?” Then, after she’s done, Nikki compliments her “savage Jen Walters” look.
The first line is instantly recognizable to Spider-Man fans, since Spidey’s journey to being a hero is sparked by the aphorism “with great power comes great responsibility.” Maybe it’s weird that a Hulk show has a Spider-Man reference in it, but you can’t deny the connection. The second line is a direct reference to the original title of the first She-Hulk comic books from the ’80s, The Savage She-Hulk.
Cheetos with chopsticks
When Jen and Bruce are in the car on their road trip, Bruce asks why Jen is eating Cheetos with chopsticks. Her answer is genius in its simplicity: “So you don’t get Cheeto fingers.” Brilliant! No wonder this woman has a law degree!
Except, as Kristin Howard at Den of Geek points out, Jen didn’t come up with that trick. It’s actually a reference to a photo of Oscar Isaac eating cheetos with chopsticks. Is that a convoluted reference to Moon Knight? The important thing is that I’m never eating Cheetos with my fingers again.
A Sakaarian class-eight courier craft
Jen and Bruce’s road trip is cut short when a spaceship falls out of the sky and forces their car off the road. Bruce recognizes the ship as a “Sakaarian class-eight courier craft,” and that recognition suggests that he now has memories of his time on Sakaar. That ship is the same model as the Commodore, which Bruce, Thor, and Valkyrie used to escape Sakaar in Thor: Ragnarok. What’s more, the ship’s appearance in She-Hulk is probably setting up another plot down the line, whether it’s in a later episode or in a rumored World War Hulk movie.
A Led Zeppelin reference?
Okay, so I’m not sure if this is an easter egg or if director Kat Coiro just really likes Led Zeppelin, but I’m absolutely convinced it’s somehow significant. When Jen wakes up in Bruce’s beach house lab in Mexico, she finds a change of clothes waiting for her, including a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. It’s just the way the camera lingers on the shirt, that’s all. “Immigrant Song” did play a prominent role in Ragnarok, so maybe it’s another Ragnarok throwback?
An Iron Man helmet
After Jen wakes up and changes, she walks through the beach house as she’s trying to figure out where she is. On her way downstairs, she passes one of Tony Stark’s Iron Man helmets, which is on display. Of course, Tony’s the former owner of the house, so the decor isn’t surprising.
Natasha’s lullaby
When Bruce is giving Jen a crash course on what it’s like to be a hulk, he mentions that Natasha used to help him transform back into Banner with a lullaby. That lullaby consisted of holding out her hand and saying, “The sun’s getting real low.” When Jen asks Bruce how the lullaby worked, Bruce admits that he doesn’t have a clear explanation, which is basically Marvel’s way of telling us all to stop asking them about it.
Who’s your friend who likes to play?
Bruce is testing Jen’s threshold for hulking out, and explains that her transformations are caused by “distressed emotional states.” Jen suggests watching the scene in Pixar’s Inside Out when Bing Bong sacrifices himself so that Joy can escape the pit of old memories. Bruce clutches his chest and cries, “Oh, Bing Bong!” before explaining that a sad scene in a movie won’t cut it. Anyway, we now know that Pixar movies exist in the MCU, and superheroes find the Bing Bong scene just as devastating as the rest of us do.
BB and TS
While Bruce and Jen are having some drinks at the bar Bruce built on the beach house property, Bruce fingers two sets of initials scratched into the surface: BB and TS. These obviously stand for Bruce Banner and Tony Stark.
She-Hulk Episode 2 Easter Eggs: “Superhuman Law”
Episode 2 shows us what it’s like to live in a world full of superheroes, gives us a glimpse of mutants, and finally answers a big question about Eternals.
Eternals and Wolverine headlines, plus America’s ass
While Jen is jobhunting after she gets fired from the District Attorney’s office, we see a glimpse of the website she’s looking at, which is a listicle of “offbeat jobs.” The site is loaded with huge blink-and-you-miss-it Easter eggs.
First, the ad in the top right corner is selling a type of shoe called “Iron Man Three’s.” Jen lives in a world with Avengers-themed Ben and Jerry’s flavors, so it’s not surprising that there are shoes named after Iron Man, but the name could also be a reference to Iron Man 3.
But a shoe brand is small potatoes. Beneath it, we see two headlines. The first is, “Man fights with metal claws in bar brawl.” This is clearly a reference to Wolverine, and it means that Logan exists somewhere in the MCU. X-Men fans, I can hear you screaming from here. Mutants have already been confirmed on Earth-616 in Ms. Marvel, so the X-Men are definitely coming.
The second headline reads, “Why is there a giant statue of a man sticking out of the ocean.” You’ll recall that at the end of Eternals, the Celestial Tiamut started to rise out of the ocean, but then Sersi turned him to stone because his birth would destroy the planet. Ever since then, there’s been a huge stone Celestial sticking out of the Earth, and no one in the MCU has commented on it or even seemed to notice it’s there. Finally, some plucky MCU journalist is getting to the bottom of it.
Finally, when Jen gets a text from her mom, we see that the background screen on her phone is Steve Rogers’s butt. That’s a callback to Avengers: Endgame, when Scott Lang calls it “America’s ass.”
The cage match in Shang-Chi
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) fights Emil Blonsky in a cage match at the Golden Daggers Club. At the end of “Superhuman Law,” footage from the match goes public, throwing a huge wrench in Jen’s strategy to get Emil paroled.
The Sakaarian ship returns
When Jen is talking to Bruce about taking on Emil’s case, Bruce says he has “some things” he has to “take care of.” Meanwhile, the camera pans out to reveal that he’s now a passenger in the Sakaarian courier craft that caused the car accident in episode 1. The ship is presumably heading back to Sakaar, but we have no idea who’s flying it, who sent for Bruce, or what business he has to attend to—until the season finale, that is.
Literally a different person
Finally, while Bruce is on the ship, he tells Jen that he and Emil put their troubled past behind them. Bruce says, “I’m a completely different person now. Literally!” This is a reference to the fact that in the original Incredible Hulk movie, Bruce was played by Edward Norton, not Mark Ruffalo.
She-Hulk episode 3 Easter eggs: “The People vs. Emil Blonksy”
In Episode, 3, Jennifer wins her first superhuman case and resists her new identity as She-Hulk.
Wong, Sorcerer Supreme and Target sales associate
Wong (Benedict Wong) finally makes his long-awaited cameo, but not before we find out that he has a social media profile listing his employment as Sorcerer Supreme, Librarian, and … Target employee. Bizarrely, his Target job is listed in Kamar-Taj, Nepal. First off, there are no Targets outside of the U.S. I checked. Secondly, Kamar-Taj is a temple, not a city. Wong clearly filled out the wrong fields when he was creating his profile. It’s okay, Wong, it happens to all of us.
Once Wong sits down with Jennifer, he drops several Easter eggs in the space of two minutes. When Jennifer tells him about Emil’s parole hearing, Wong says he won’t erase everyone’s memory again, which is probably a reference to the memory spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He says he could take Emil to the mirror dimension, which is a metaphysical training ground first seen in Doctor Strange. Then, he suggests the Shadow Dimension, which seems to be a cross between the Dark Dimension in Doctor Strange and Thor: Love and Thunder‘s Shadow Realm.
Gideon Wilson
In a TV interview, we find out that the lawyer who put Emil Blonsky behind bars is named Gideon Wilson. In the comics, Gideon is Sam Wilson’s (A.K.A. the Falcon) brother, although there appears to be no relation here.
Runa the Light Elf
Are light elves actually a thing in Marvel comics? You bet they are! What, you didn’t think Marvel came up with something new for the MCU, did you?
In the comics, the Light Elves live in Alfheim, one of the nine realms ruled by Asgard. They’re the antithesis to the Dark Elves, who live in Svartalfheim. This is the first time we’ve seen a Light Elf in the MCU, and it seems like their moral compasses aren’t much stronger than their evil counterparts.
Runa also gives us another Easter egg when she tries to replicate Thor and Odin’s speech from Ragnarok, about how Asgard isn’t a place, it’s a people.
Social media reactions to She-Hulk
After Jen wins Emil’s parole hearing, social media explodes with reactions to her, and many of those reactions mimic real reactions to the show. (“They took Hulk’s manhood and gave it to a woman!?”)
If you look closely at the names of commenters in a YouTube video about Jen, you’ll see what might be a few minor Easter eggs. “DomtheBountyHunter” might be a deep cut to Domino, an X-Men member who serves as a bounty hunter. “DarbyDontCare” could refer to either Scott Lang’s coworker Darby at Baskin-Robbins, or a mutant named Randall Darby from the comics. These are stretches, though. The commenter names could just be random, or in-jokes from the writers’ room.
Jen’s coworkers
In Episode 3, we briefly meet Mallory Brook, another lawyer at GLK&H. We also see her old colleague Dennis Bukowski again. Both of these characters are Jen’s coworkers in the comics, too.
The Wrecking Crew arrives
At the end of the episode, Jen is attacked by a bunch of guys in hardhats with tricked-out Asgardian construction tools. This is the Wrecking Crew, a supervillain team that goes up against Daredevil and the Punisher in the comics.
She-Hulk episode 4 Easter eggs: “Is this not real magic?”
In Episode 4, Jen fights some demons (literally), and we learn that Wong is a Sopranos fan.
Donny Blaze
It’s become an MCU fandom tradition to run around like headless chickens every time we think Marvel might unveil the MCU version of a character from the comics. It’s gotten to the point where Marvel is clearly messing with us. Case in point: Donny Blaze, the inept sorcerer-turned-stage magician whose name sounds almost identical to Johnny Blaze, A.K.A. Ghost Rider. But Donny Blaze isn’t Ghost Rider. OR IS HE? Nah, I’m kidding, he isn’t. UNLESS HE IS.
Mephist—ohhh, here we go again
As part of his magic act, Donny sends the unsuspecting Madisynn to a hell dimension where, she claims, a goat allowed her to escape in exchange for six drops of her blood. Oh my god! Could it be!? Is the diabolical Mephisto finally making his MCU debut!?
Or did we already do all this in WandaVision, when people were absolutely convinced that Agnes’s husband Ralph was actually Mephisto? I’m telling you, Marvel’s just messing with us. UNLESS THEY AREN’T.
Jen’s to-do list
We briefly see Jen’s computer screen while she’s at work, and there are some fun Easter eggs in her to-do list. First, we see that she’s still tying up some loose ends with Emil’s parole and Dennis’s lawsuit against Runa. The list includes “Finalize Blonsky injunction,” “Prepare guidance language for Blonsky’s inhibitor,” “Call Emil’s parole officer,” and “Finish Runa paperwork with Pug.”
We also see references to some cases that haven’t appeared onscreen: “Kraft v Soule,” “Lee v Byrne,” and “Jansen class action.” These names are all references to Marvel writers and artists. David Anthony Craft and Charles Soule both worked on the She-Hulk comics. John Byrne and Klaus Jansen are also Marvel artists, and “Lee” obviously refers to Stan Lee.
Khonshu necklace
Kudos to the eagle-eyed fans who spotted this Easter egg! If you look very closely at Donny Blaze’s jewelry, you’ll see that he’s wearing a bird skull necklace that looks like the skull of Khonshu, Moon Knight‘s Egyptian god of the moon. Is Donny secretly a disciple of Khonshu? Or does he just think the bird skull necklace looks cool? We already know he has a tendency to mess with forces he doesn’t understand.
The Book of Vishanti
When Wong is telling Jen about Donny’s antics, she tells him they need to build their case “by the book.” Wong answers, “The Book of Vishanti?” This is a reference to the mystical grimoire that Doctor Strange and America Chavez are searching for in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Pop culture references
I know this is technically a list of MCU Easter eggs, but there were so many fun pop culture references in Episode 4 that I can’t resist pointing them out. When Wong is watching TV, we learn that he’s into The Sopranos and This is Us. While Jen’s date is waiting for her to get back from fighting demons, he reads Roxanne Gay’s essay collection Bad Feminist. Isn’t it great that both Megan Thee Stallion and Roxanne Gay now canonically exist in the MCU?
She-Hulk episode 5 Easter eggs: “Mean, Green, and Straight Poured Into These Jeans”
The theme of episode 5 is Superhero Trademarks! Don’t you dare take on a cool moniker without copyrighting that sucker first, because Titania WILL get you.
I say Avongers, you say Avingers
When Nikki and Pug go looking for the guy who can create a new wardrobe for Jen, their contact at the boba shop tries to sell them a bunch of bootleg Avengers merchandise. But since “Avengers” is apparently trademarked (see?), the merch says “Avongers” and “Avingers” instead. Apparently all the Avengers’ looks are trademarked, too, because everyone is the wrong color, Hulk has a mustache, and Thor is holding a shovel. Is Hulk dressed as Borat on that beach towel? Anyway, I need some of this merch ASAP.
Daredevil’s suit
At the very end of the episode, Jen is trying on her new clothes when Luke, the designer, finds a hat box lying out. Tsking at his assistant, he takes the hatbox and sets it down by a rack of garment bags. In one of the garment bags you see a suit made of yellow and red leather. Then the camera zooms in on the hatbox, and you see Matt Murdock’s (Charlie Cox) Daredevil helmet. Daredevil is coming! Matt Murdock is back! He and Jen are totally gonna get it on!
The MCShoe
Lastly, during the credits, we see a drawing of Pug and Nikki at the sneaker drop that Pug asked Nikki to come to with him. Remember the Iron Man Threes from Episode 2? Pug has gotten himself a pair. They’re sneakers with Iron Man’s helmet on the heel! Great? I guess? I’m sorry, hypebeast culture is kind of beyond my ken.
However, we see a lot of other superhero kicks in the background, including a lot of characters who haven’t officially entered the MCU yet. Is this foreshadowing, or just a fun joke? You can see Deadpool, Cyclops, Ghost Rider, Captain Marvel, Captain America, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Moon Knight, and the Thing.
She-Hulk episode 6 Easter eggs: “Just Jen”
In Episode 6, Jen agrees to be a bridesmaid at her friend Lulu’s wedding, where she runs into Titania and the wedding erupts into a superpowered brawl. Is Daredevil there, after that agonizing teaser at the end of episode 5? Nope! No Daredevil this week. Just Jen. As Jen herself points out, weddings always come at the most inconvenient times.
Mr. Immortal and Baroness Cromwell
The divorce case that Mallory and Nikki are handling in Jen’s absence turns out to involve Craig Hollis, A.K.A. “Mr. Immortal.” Mr. Immortal is being sued by a bunch of his ex-wives because he’s spent years pretending to kill himself instead of dealing with the conflicts in his relationships.
As with all superhuman cameos, Mr. Immortal has a counterpart in the original comics. Hollis is the leader of the Great Lakes Avengers, although he first appears in West Coast Avengers #46. Although he’s called a mutant, Hollis is actually the only known member of the species Homo supreme, which is an evolutionary step beyond the mutants, who are members of Homo superior. His appearance and personality are significantly different in the comics, though, which portray him as a younger, more heroic guy. Fun fact: when Mr. Immortal says he can’t die, he means it, so he’ll be around until the end of time.
While he’s describing his relationship woes to Mallory and Nikki, Mr. Immortal mentions that one of his exes is one Baroness Cromwell. This could be a reference to Marvel comics character Lily Cromwell, a vampire who goes by the name Baroness Blood. Add Lily to the growing list of vampires in the MCU!
The Intelligencia
When Mallory and Nikki search up Mr. Immortal’s fall from G.L.K.&H.’s window, they land on a site called Intelligencia, which Mallory says is a site for “hateful man-babies.” In the comics, the Intelligencia is a supervillain group that goes up against the Hulk and other heroes. Could this be the group that’s trying to get Jen’s blood?
Cookeville, Tennessee
On the Intelligencia website, there’s an article in the sidebar highlighting travel destinations. In the image under the headline, you see a map of Cookeville, TN. This is one of the locations that Sylvie bombed in Episode 2 of Loki. Not such a nice destination now, is it?
Team Jacob or Team Edward?
Finally, there’s one non-MCU reference in Episode 6. At Lulu’s wedding, the bridesmaids are arguing over “Team Jacob versus Team Edward,” which is a reference to the vampire book and film series Twilight. Jacob is Jacob Black, the werewolf, and Edward is Edward Cullen, the vampire.
She-Hulk episode 7 Easter eggs: “The Retreat”
In this episode, Jen goes to Emil Blonsky’s ranch to see why his inhibitor band is malfunctioning, and we meet a colorful cast of characters.
Emil’s supervillain gang (but not a literal gang)
Most of this episode’s Easter eggs are packed into one eccentric ranch outside of Los Angeles, where Emil Blonsky runs a retreat for reformed supervillains to work through their issues. All of these guys are straight out of the comics! Why they faded into obscurity is anyone’s guess.
Click on each character’s name for our full breakdown of their comics history and backstory!
The first two villains we meet are Man-Bull and El Aguila, who are processing their respective traumas by beating each other up. (Get it? Because one’s a bull and the other’s dressed as a matador?) Man-Bull, who has horns and super strength, is the product of a government experiment, while El Aguila is a mutant who can manipulate bio-electricity. In the comics, Man-Bull was originally one of Daredevil’s opponents, while El Aguila fought Iron Fist.
Next, we meet Saracen. Here, the series really departs from the comics, in which Saracen is a mercenary who goes up against Punisher. In She-Hulk, Saracen thinks he’s a vampire. Is he actually a vampire? Will he be returning in Blade? We don’t know yet!
Next up is Porcupine, a villain who’s afraid to take off his spiny porcupine suit. In the comics, there were two villains who took on the mantle of Porcupine, but both of them were low-level criminals who could shoot spines and other objects.
Finally, we get the return of Wrecker from the Wrecking Crew. He’s not at the retreat to steal Jen’s blood, though—he just wants to have a shvitz in the yurt and continue his journey of inner healing.
One non-MCU Easter egg: The Great Muppet Caper
While she’s waiting for Josh to text her back (surprise, surprise, he’s working for the Intelligencia), Jen watches Miss Piggy break out of prison in The Great Muppet Caper. We feel you, Jen. Hang in there, girl—Daredevil’s showing up in Episode 8.
She-Hulk episode 8 Easter eggs: “Ribbit and Rip It”
In this episode, Jen is retained by a superhero whose suit has malfunctioned—and she finds out that her opposing counsel is a certain Hell’s Kitchen resident with very good hearing. (It’s Daredevil. I’m talking about Daredevil here.)
Eugene Patilio, A.K.A Leap-Frog
By now you should know that every single D-list hero and villain in She-Hulk, no matter how weird or obscure, is an actual character taken straight from the pages of Marvel comics. In this episode we meet Eugene Patilio, whose father is a very important client at GLK&H. Eugene is a vigilante crime fighter who calls himself Leap-Frog, but he takes a villainous turn after he jacks up his super suit and can’t get compensation for it.
In the comics, Eugene’s father Vincent is the original Leap-Frog, while Eugene takes on the mantle of the Fabulous Frog-Man. Neither of them have superpowers, but they use their suits to jump really high.
The Sokovia Accords are kaput
In the courtroom scene, Matt mentions that the Sokovia Accords have been officially repealed. The Sokovia Accords were introduced in Avengers: Civil War after the destruction wrought by superhero fights in Lagos and Sokovia. We don’t know why exactly they’ve been repealed, though. Is it because of the blip? Or is it because there’s currently no Avengers lineup?
A Wakandan War Spear
Jen is called to an emergency meeting with Todd, one of the sleazy guys she met on Matcher. Todd reveals that he bought a Wakandan spear at an auction, but now the Wakandans want it back. Wakanda is, of course, the home of Black Panther. Todd also claims that he studied abroad in Wakanda, which is a dubious claim at best, considering that the hidden African nation only recently fully opened its borders to the rest of the world. Wakandan spears are very powerful and dangerous technology, and as Todd himself points out, this one seems to have been stolen, so it would behoove him to give that sucker back ASAP.
Betty Ross, A.K.A. Red She-Hulk, A.K.A. Harpy
Near the end of the episode, Jen wonders why they’re doing the gala scene in this episode instead of the next one. “Is it the kind of twist that’s like, ooh, there’s another Hulk, except this one’s red?”
This is a reference to the Red Hulks in the comics: Thaddeus Ross and his daughter Betty. Since this is Jen’s show and not Bruce’s, let’s assume she’s talking about Betty, not Thaddeus. In the comics, Betty is infused with gamma radiation and then sent to kill Bruce. However, she later becomes a hero, and Doctor Strange eventually recruits her to join the Defenders. Over the years, Betty calls herself Red Harpy, then Red She-Hulk, then just Harpy.
DAREDEVIL!
Finally, Daredevil arrives! Matt Murdock’s scenes have multiple callbacks to the original Daredevil series on Netflix, starting with the Daredevil theme playing softly as he tells Jen his superhero moniker. Matt also mentions to Jen that he’s still running his private practice in Hell’s Kitchen. Daredevil’s “ketchup and mustard” red and yellow suit (sick burn, Jen!) is taken straight from the comics.
Finally, Daredevil was famous for its expertly-choreographed hallway fight scenes, and She-Hulk pays homage to those with a hallway scene of its own—which comes to a halt when Jen crashes through the ceiling.
She-Hulk Episode 9 Easter eggs: “Whose Show Is This?”
It’s the season finale, and things get so bonkers that Jen has to break out of the show itself to fix it!
Original 1978 Incredible Hulk opening sequence
The episode begins with a riff on the original opening sequence to The Incredible Hulk from 1978.
“Lady Thor”
When Pug infiltrates the Intelligencia meeting at Emil’s ranch, he approaches a bunch of guys complaining about how much “Lady Thor” sucks. This is a reference to Jane Foster’s Mighty Thor from Thor: Love and Thunder—and proof that the Intelligencia guys are uninteresting dweebs, because we all know the Mighty Thor is awesome.
Jen breaks Disney Plus and storms the writers’ room
This set of Easter egg presents the same problem as AvengerCon in Ms. Marvel. Is it really an Easter egg when the entire sequence is overtly self-referential? Nevertheless, here are all the major Marvel references we see when Jen breaks out of her show to fix the finale.
First, the show cuts to the Disney Plus menu, as if the viewer has turned off the show in frustration at the nonsensical finale. Jen then pops out of the She-Hulk thumbnail and swings into Assembled, Marvel’s series of behind-the-scenes specials. She passes an interview about Thanos’s infinity gauntlet and walks through the Disney campus until she gets to the She-Hulk writers room, where she confronts head writer Jessica Gao.
Jen then goes to complain to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige … except it’s not Feige at all, but a robot named K.E.V.I.N. (If, like me, you watched the episode with subtitles and got the twist spoiled for you, I’m sorry.) Jen then complains about Marvel’s plot formulas, mentioning Thor, Loki, and Star-Lord’s daddy issues and asking when we’re going to get the X-Men in the MCU.
Jen’s journey through Disney is, of course, loaded with various Marvel posters, action figures, and set pieces, including multiple Captain America, Hulk, and Iron Man references.
Skaar
Hahaha, they did it! They actually did it! Marvel introduced Hulk’s son Skaar to the MCU! Way back when She-Hulk first premiered, we all wondered if Marvel was going to set up a World War Hulk adaptation. In the comics, Hulk takes over Sakaar after his time as a gladiator, and he has a son with a woman named Caiera. Skaar’s growth is artificially accelerated, which is presumably why he’s a young adult instead of a ten year old in the MCU.
So where does Skaar go from here? Are we getting World War Hulk, or is the MCU going in an entirely new direction? We’ll have to wait and see.
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What’s your favorite Easter egg in She-Hulk? Did you find any we missed? Let us know in the comments!
(featured image: Marvel)
