She-Hulk episode 4 ended with a big reveal and cliffhanger. Fans of the show have already realized that She-Hulk prefers to fight crime by being an attorney rather than an Avenger. She fights cases in court and instead of being threatened by multiversal and inter-dimensional beings, her biggest enemy is a lawsuit. As a matter of fact, that is exactly what she gets! The ending of episode 4 shows her being handed court papers. The deliverer tells her that she is being sued by none other than Titania, the super-powered influencer who was defeated by She-Hulk in the first episode itself. The lawsuit is regarding a copyright claim over the name She-Hulk. Turns out, Titania had trademarked the name first.
How did Titania’s lawyer get the court to drop all charges against her?
The morning after her date with the pediatric oncologist, she makes breakfast in the morning and switches on the TV to watch the news. On the news we see a reporter talking about Titania. As can be seen, Titania is free and all the charges against her have been dropped entirely. This seems like an unlikely and almost impossible task for any lawyer, even the superhero ones. Especially considering that Titania’s violent actions in court had a whole lot of witnesses including the jury who she tried to smash with a table. With that in mind, it does not make much sense that all the charges against her were dropped.
Do all superheroes need to trademark their names?
This twist regarding the trademarked name of She-Hulk raises some important questions with regard to the MCU as a whole. Does this mean that every superhero needs to trademark their names to prevent such frivolous lawsuits? Or does the MCU have specific laws with respect to superheroes and their names. If they don’t then this would be a great opportunity for Marvel to introduce some laws tailored to superheroes specifically. Moreover, the name She-Hulk was coined by the public and used extensively by news agencies to identify Jen Walters. I guess we will just have to wait for the next episode to get answers to these questions.
What about superheroes with secret identities?
The concept of superheroes having to copyright and trademark their names poses another dilemma. This is not as easy for the superheroes who have secret identities such as Spider-Man and Peter Parker. Having to trademark their superhero names would basically violate their privacy and pretty much compel them to reveal who they are under the mask. So how will the MCU handle all of this? Only the future will tell.
Will this introduce Daredevil in She-Hulk?
MCU fans are already aware of the fact that Daredevil aka Matt Murdock will be introduced very soon in She-Hulk. He was last seen during Spider-Man: No Way Home when he was formally made a part of the MCU long after Daredevil was cancelled on Netflix. The Titania vs She-Hulk storyline with regards to the lawsuit is the perfect opportunity for Matt Murdock to make his much anticipated entrance. Having been such a great lawyer who is also a super powered individual, chances are that he will end up representing either Titania or She-Hulk in court. This means we will finally get to see him in episode 5 hopefully.
She-Hulk or Jen can definitely get a lot of other skilled lawyers from GLK and H to represent her. Moreover, she could even insist on representing herself. This is owing to her personality whereby she has a need to be independent. She also refuses to accept help from others especially men. So chances are that Daredevil or Matt Murdock will represent Titania and She-Hulk will go against him in court. Which would definitely be a great trial and an epic case.
Funnily enough this concept of trademarking the name She-Hulk has its roots in real life. Stan lee along with artist John Buscema had created the character of a female Hulk so that he could copyright it and prevent Universal from pursuing such a character in the future. And that is how the Savage She-Hulk comics came into being.
