Light spoilers for Civil War II
Despite cancelling her fantastic solo series, Marvel’s been pushing Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk a lot recently. She’s led the A-Force, made significant appearances in several series, and been a major player in the Civil War II event. However, that last one’s been a point of contention among fans, as she’s primarily been comatose in a hospital bed for most of it. Some of have even speculated that she’s being killed off.
However, rumors of her death have been greatly exaggerated. At least, that seems to be what news out of Marvel today is indicating. Because in December, Shulkie’s getting to start front-and-center in her series again. But from the sound of it, Hulk will be a totally different look at the beloved heroine.
Following the events of Civil War II, Jennifer Walters is a changed woman. Her cousin is dead, and the fallout from the titular war has left her struggling to rein in her anger. The fun-loving, intelligent, and promiscuous heroine we all know is gone, and in her place is a woman struggling to cope with her trauma and inner demons.
Headed up by Mariko Tamaki, Hulk will show us a darker side of Jen Walters that has only been hinted at before. Dan Slott tread some of this ground in his landmark 2003 reboot of the character, but from the sound of it, this will be a much darker story than that.
“Jen is absolutely shaped by the trauma she’s experienced,” Tamaki told The AV Club. “Much of it was inspired by thinking about how different people deal with the hard things that happen in their lives, how memory, trauma, can infuse our whole being, be a physical presence in our lives. I was really into the idea of a Hulk, of the ability to transform into something close to monstrous, that’s still human, and heroic. It was interesting to think about what’s human about Hulk and vice versa.”
Jennifer Walters is, far and away, my favorite superhero. As somebody’s who has primarily moved away from both Marvel and DC, she’s one of the only things that keeps me coming back. While I’m very tentative about a gritty, dark take on the character, I’ll definitely be checking this out.
