Mild spoilers for “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” follow below, although if you’ve seen any of the trailers you probably know what we’re getting into.
Every time there’s a new entry in the increasingly expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the question pops up: When does take place, exactly? You’ll probably be asking yourself this question with the debut of this week’s new Disney+ series “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”
After 2019’s blockbuster “Avengers: Endgame” introduced a five-year jump in time, the exact timing of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been up for debate. Keep in mind that the same movie also introduces time travel and the concept of a multiverse, which has since been explored more heavily in things like “Loki” and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (and will soon take center stage, once again, in next year’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”).
“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” doesn’t get into any multiverse stuff, but it does drop in some new details that both clarify, and muddle, the timeline a bit.
Much of the first episode of “She-Hulk” is devoted to how everyday lawyer Jessica Walters (Tatiana Maslany) became a superpowered force of nature, which obviously involved her relationship with her cousin, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo). Banner is back in Smart Hulk mode, and he actually explains to Jessica how he healed himself following the events of “Avengers: Endgame” (remember that Bruce triggered the initial snap that brought everybody back, which greatly damaged his arm). Thanks to his science wizardry, he figured it out. But this admission throws the timeline into question (more on that in a minute).
In one of the earlier episodes, Walters is given a case that involves Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), the villain also known as the Abomination. The Abomination took center stage in the mostly forgotten “The Incredible Hulk,” which was released the same summer as “Iron Man” (if you can believe it). He has, presumably, been in prison since. But he did pop up again recently, which more firmly establishes when “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” takes place.
There’s a moment in 2021’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” where our hero Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) travels to an underground fight club in Macau. Walking through the club, Shang-Chi looks around, seeing various fighters. This sequence is festooned with Marvel Easter eggs, with references to the Black Widows, the Extremis super-soldiers from “Iron Man 3” and much, much more. When he finally reaches the main stage, he sees a giant monster (hello, Abomination) fighting a man, current Sorcerer Supreme of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Wong (Benedict Wong). But how? And why?
This moment actually becomes a major plot point in “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” which we don’t want to give away for obvious reasons. But it’s clear that the show and “Shang-Chi” take place concurrently, at least in part.
But just as “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” gives us some much-needed context, it also makes us question our assumptions.
In the post-credits scene for “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” we see Bruce, very much in human form, with his arm in a sling. This scene seemingly takes place immediately after the events of the movie. But the Abomination fight scene takes place after Jen has become a hero, after being trained by Bruce-as-Smart-Hulk. What in the world?
There is one plot point from “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” that could explain this, but we’re not entirely sure if that works either. And it’s too big of a spoiler to discuss now.
Thankfully (so far, at least), time travel and the infinite multiverse hasn’t been introduced into “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law,” which would further complicate things. It takes place in the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity. But that only simplifies things to a degree. When does the show actually take place? Our best guess is that “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law” takes place in 2023/2024.
