So we've come back to the third rail of internet discourse, having an opinion about Disney property.

For those looking to get into an argument here is the gist of my review. I enjoyed She-Hulk for the most part. It does what it sets out to do. It tries to do some novel things with the MCU. It's not a "flawless feminist manifesto really showing it to its audience and ending sexism for good," but it also didn't "destroy all things marvel and bring the entire film industry to a halt with how terrible and woke it is."

Now that we've gotten the gross people who want to hijack a silly green monster lawyer comedy show arguing in the comments, it's time for the nuance that nobody actually cares about.

I feel like the thing that will most dramatically affect how you enjoy She-Hulk is what expectations you bring to the table for it. I heard Ally McBeal tossed around a lot in the promotion of the series. As that's one of my favorite shows, the biggest disappointment for me was that this series really isn't Ally McBeal. The short run-time kneecaps any real Ally McBeal-like characterization and drama, instead you're mostly stuck with comedy. That's a shame because I feel like that is missed potential for more character depth.

Of course, I'm guessing a lot of MCU fans were looking for theatrical Superhero fare and I could see how they might feel like they got a bait-and-switch. The series surprisingly adapts a lot of the 4th wall breaking of the comic and if you're not ready for it I could see how that might be jarring.

While not living up to frankly absurd expectations, it is an unfair way to judge this story. She-Hulk tries to play with its MCU expectations in a meta-narrative way and tries to deconstruct the genre a little and that's the highlight of the show (for better or worse).

I'm very seldomly blown away by Super-Hero deconstructionist narratives, I feel like the genre has played that note to death, even comedically with the likes of Deadpool. It also tends to lower the stakes into a weird uncanny valley where nothing feels like it matters, and I guess to be fair a lot of silver age comics were also of that "none of this matters" ilk, so at least it's true to form for the genre (and the source material).

She-Hulk at least doesn't make the irreverent approach to the genre of superhero comic stories brooding or annoyingly juvenile so it has that going for it.

Of course, Deconstruction and allegories are very difficult tightrope acts (seldom done well) and I commend the series for trying to pull that off. All allegories have parts where analogies are never 100% perfect, She-Hulk included.

The show tries to say things that need to be said, and need to be coming directly from the franchise. It's just a shame that one of the biggest reveals pulls its punch a bit with a swap-out gag. They could have said something coming from a place of authority. Instead, it oddly pivots to a scapegoat (not to mention somewhat pointing fingers at its competitors instead of itself.) I found it somewhat toothless. (But what do you expect from corporate art?)

I'm intentionally being vague to avoid spoilers. Let us just say they missed a chance at real self-criticism and going all the way to the top with their analogy. I thought they were going there and if they had I would have been more impressed. Still, the moments where they bit the hand that feeds work. Those moments were still unexpected. Getting something unexpected from the MCU is like pulling teeth recently, so I'll take it.

The show also made me very sad that we are no longer able to get Stan Lee cameos because this would have been the perfect show for that.

I could make the boilerplate complaint that the CGI isn't very good or that the story feels a bit rushed. If Marvell wants to try to go for this stuff they need to give their artists more runway and a bigger canvas. I don't think much of that falls on the creatives and instead falls squarely in the lap of Disney.

Despite these quibbles, the show is a lot of fun when you take it at face value for what it is. The actors are very likable. The cameos are fun too (as long as you're not expecting it to turn into a different series when they are on screen). The 4th wall stuff is much more true to the character than I was expecting. All of us who wanted Marvel to do something new got what we asked for (even if it's a monkey's paw wish for some).

Hopefully, if we get a second season they can build this all out a little more, and maybe polish it off a bit. (wouldn't mind if they were a little less sitcom-level comedy and found more dramedy chops, but for what it is it's good).

It's certainly a odd show to die on an internet argument hill over or to cape up for though.