Is the antagonist of “She Hulk” a supervillain or an antihero? Her past has depicted her in both ways.
The highly anticipated She Hulk: Attorney at Law, the newest MCU series due to premiere on Disney+ on Thursday, August 18, 2022, is just getting started. Tatiana Maslany, a superb actor, joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Jennifer Walters/She Hulk in the action-adventure/comedy/legal drama.
Along for the voyage are MCU alumni Mark Ruffalo (Bruce Banner), Benedict Wong (Wong), and Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky/Abomination), while newcomers Ginger Gonzaga (Nikki Ramos) and Jon Bass (Todd) round out the cast. Charlie Cox (Matt Murdock/Daredevil) makes his MCU debut. Jameela Jamil, the breakout actress of The Good Place, also makes an appearance as She-adversary. She Hulk will be playing Titania, a social media influencer with superhuman power who Jamil calls “the most obnoxious MCU villain ever.”
In March 1984, Titania made her first appearance in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3. Titania, alias Mary MacPherran, was the youngest and shortest of her siblings while she attended school. She would fantasize about escaping by winning the jackpot or obtaining superpowers because she was resentful of her difficult life. Her buddy noticed that Spider-hair Woman’s matched MacPherran’s when she appeared in Denver, and MacPherran exploited this information to propagate the myth that she was Spider-Woman. She received an invitation to a party and achieved instant notoriety as a result, but when the Beyonder tore their neighborhood from Earth to create Battleworld, MacPherran and her friend Marsha Rosenberg were forced to flee after their deception was discovered.
Doctor Doom discovered the two and promised the girls superhuman abilities in exchange for joining his army of supervillains. Doom took the two who had agreed to his Doombase. Doom remade the two using highly developed alien technology. Rosenberg became Volcana and took on an ionized plasma form, while MacPherran became Titania and grew taller, stronger, and more muscular. She battled She Hulk and later Spider-Man to demonstrate her new abilities, but she lost both battles, making MacPherran learn that strength alone wasn’t enough to vanquish her foes.
The two joined Baron Zemo and his Masters of Evil, where they were first employed to locate fresh recruits for the nefarious organization, after Titania grew close to Absorbing Man, a.k.a. Carl Creel. The Avenger Hercules, who was unconscious following a confrontation with the Masters, was subsequently given the task of being killed. Unfortunately, Ant-Man and the Wasp’s squad managed to subdue the couple, who were then brought to the Vault, a prison for superhumans.
She did not stay there for very long, either, since Tony Stark arrived at the Vault to engage the guardians of the vault—the Guardsmen—as part of the Armor Wars and accidentally let Titania out after causing a power outage during the battle. Titania traveled to Washington, D.C., where she caused mayhem in an attempt to attract She-attention Hulk’s for a rematch. However, after suffering a series of defeats, Titania made a commitment to never assault She Hulk again and went back to prison.
Titania teamed forces with the Wizard, Klaw, and Hydro-Man to form the new Frightful Four, a villainous gang that battled the Fantastic Four. They unexpectedly lost and were sent back to the Vault. Titania quickly went through the process of entering and exiting the vault three times.
First, she mastered her arachnophobia (really) as part of Loki’s Acts of Vengeance plot to battle Spider-Man. The second time, she was let free by Graviton and joined Chameleon and Goliath in an effort to exact revenge on Spider-Man. However, she was beaten when she collided with a speeding bus, and she was ultimately defeated. She eventually managed to get away and join Superia’s all-female army, the Femizons, which ultimately lost the battle against Captain America and Paladin.
Titania sought out Creel as a result of her continual failures, and they formally declared their love for one another. Creel made an effort to lead a normal life, but Titania couldn’t help but feel the desire to exact revenge on She Hulk. As a result, she started stealing jewelry shops to entice Creel, only to be “scared straight” and drawn back into their relationship.
Then Titania proposed to Creel, and at their wedding, which was attended by numerous supervillains, the Avengers were alerted but chose to ignore the newlyweds. They wanted to leave the criminal life behind, but it was difficult, so they adopted the identities of Thunder Girl and Lightning Bolt in order to track down Spider-Man and claim the Norman Osborn bounty.
Titania had cancer despite having superhuman durability, but she was unable to get treatment since she lacked money or insurance. Thor would send doctors, and with their assistance and Titania’s own strength, she would be able to battle the illness. Thor’s kindness caused Absorbing Man to apologize for his wrongdoings against the God of Thunder. Titania was beaten and humiliated as a result of her attempt to defeat She Hulk after losing the battle for her health. The Power Infinity Gem was the opportunity that the former Champion of the Universe gave Titania to defeat her adversary.
With the jewel in hand, Titania did defeat She Hulk in combat, but She Hulk duped Titania into thinking a subsequent battle had killed her. Titania believed She Hulk had vanished, and without the object of her irrational rage around, she felt adrift. She Hulk now had the opportunity to take ownership of the diamond and eliminate Titania. Titania made the decision to cease committing crimes after becoming trapped in a never-ending cycle of arrests and imprisonment.
She Hulk assisted her in obtaining employment at a pawn store after she was released from prison on parole (this time). Titania managed to steer out of criminal activity despite a few slip-ups. She finally joined the Gamma Flight task group with Absorbing Man, which is where she is right now in the Marvel Comics universe.
There isn’t much information available about Jamil’s character in the show besides what Titania, a social media influencer, has posted and what she has shared herself. Absorbing Man/Carl Creel has a significant impact on her life in the comics, but no one has been cast in that role—at least not yet.
Titania’s origins will also be changed from the book because there isn’t a Doctor Doom in the MCU and Avengers: Secret Wars won’t be out until November 2025. However Titania is being used—as a rival, opponent, supervillainess, or anti-hero—looks to be another feather in the crown for the broad MCU given the good early reviews for She Hulk: Attorney At Law.
