She-Hulk Episode 1's biggest mystery may set up Hulk's secret son
Who sent the Sakaaran ship?
The first episode of Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law packs a lot into its 38-minute runtime.
Not only does the series’ premiere installment introduce viewers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newest hero, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany), but it also fast-forwards through her entire origin story and initial superhero training sessions. By the time the episode has come to an end, Maslany’s Jennifer has already gone back to working full-time as a professional lawyer.
That said, at the center of Jennifer’s MCU origin story is a mystery that She-Hulk Episode 1 intentionally leaves unresolved. But just because She-Hulk’s premiere is content with shrugging off a certain attack, that doesn’t mean MCU fans are willing to just forget about the Sakaaran spaceship in the room.
She-Hulk Episode 1’s Sakaaran Easter egg
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in Episode 1 of Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
She-Hulk Episode 1, titled “A Normal Amount of Rage,” opens with Jennifer and her cousin, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), being ambushed by an unidentified spaceship. It’s this attack that leads to Jennifer and Bruce’s car accident, which results in the former gaining Hulk-like powers after she accidentally comes into contact with her Avenger cousin’s gamma-infected blood.
Later in the episode, Ruffalo’s Bruce confirms that the ship that ambushed them was a Sakaaran Class-Eight courier craft and notes that it was “probably trying to deliver a message.” In the same scene, Bruce notes that he has to “get to the bottom” of whatever “message” his Sakaaran attackers are trying to send him, but he also shelves the issue, saying: “You know, weird stuff just kinda finds you when you’re a Hulk.”
In other words, She-Hulk Episode 1 sets up a Sakaaran mystery for its two green-skinned superheroes to mull over, but it doesn’t actually resolve it. Fortunately, MCU fans are already pretty convinced that they know who is trying to send Bruce a message from Sakaar.
“Did We Hit a Spaceship?”
“You know, weird stuff just kinda finds you when you’re a Hulk.”
There are, of course, a few different characters who could be responsible for the Sakaaran ambush in She-Hulk Episode 1, including The Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum), who is no doubt still nursing a grudge against Bruce Banner for his actions in Thor: Ragnarok. However, most Marvel fans seem to believe that the character who is trying to make contact with Bruce is one who has never been seen before in the MCU.
The character in question? None other than Skaar.
In the comics, Skaar is the son of Bruce Banner and Caiera the Oldstrong, whom Bruce met during his time on Sakaar. The two married each other when Bruce became the planet’s king, but Caiera later died after the Illuminati remotely detonated the shuttle that had originally taken Bruce to Sakaar. In response, The Hulk traveled back to Earth in order to exact his vengeance upon the Illuminati — kicking off Marvel’s World War Hulk storyline.
Skaar reintroduces himself in Gamma Flight Vol. 1 #1. Published in 2021.
What Bruce didn’t know at the time was that his unborn child actually lived, thanks to a magical sacrifice performed by Caiera. Skaar subsequently grew up on Sakaar, but he was ultimately banished from it as an adult. His banishment led to him arriving on Earth, where he crossed paths with his father for the first time.
In other words, it’s not outside of the realm of possibility that the mysterious Sakaaran who has decided to seek out Bruce Banner in She-Hulk may turn out to be Skaar. In fact, several previous MCU leaks have claimed that is exactly what will be revealed in She-Hulk, which is also rumored to help set up Marvel’s unannounced World War Hulk adaptation.
Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Tatiana Maslany as Jennifer Walters in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 1.
The Inverse Analysis — Marvel leakers have been claiming for a long time that Jennifer Walters won’t be the only new Hulk-like character introduced in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Now, this theory argues that She-Hulk will introduce none other than Bruce Banner’s Sakaaran son.
While there’s no way of knowing right now whether or not that will actually happen, it certainly doesn’t seem impossible. Unfortunately, fans probably won’t find out the truth about Bruce and Jennifer’s attack until the end of She-Hulk Season 1.
New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premiere weekly on Disney+.
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