How Does She-Hulk Get Her Powers (& When)

The upcoming She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is going to be the newest entry to the Disney+ lineup of Marvel series. Of course, it introduces the newest character, She-Hulk, as the latest to become a gamma radiation-powered hero in the MCU. We know for a fact that she was just a normal lawyer named Jennifer Walters before she got her powers but eventually became the jade giantess. So, how did She-Hulk get her powers?

Jennifer Walters got her powers when she was shot by crime boss Nicholas Trask’s men in connection to a case involving a former gangster that she was defending. Her cousin, Bruce Banner, was there that time and took her to a hospital where he gave her a blood transfusion, which gave her his Hulk powers. 

In a way, Jennifer Walters became She-Hulk because Bruce Banner didn’t have a choice at that time. As such, it was not her decision to become the jade giantess. Still, she would’ve died had it not been for Bruce Banner. As such, let’s look at the story behind how Jennifer Walters became She-Hulk and when the event happened. 

How Does She-Hulk Get Her Powers?

One of the most intriguing upcoming superhero series on Disney+ is She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, which is going to be the newest MCU series to hit the house of mouse’s streaming service. Of course, this series is going to introduce She-Hulk into the fold as the latest green giant in Marvel lore.

But while we do know that She-Hulk is basically the female version of the Hulk, we also know that she used to be a regular lawyer named Jennifer Walters, who specializes in legal cases involving superpowered humans. But how did Jennifer Walters get her powers to become She-Hulk?

As mentioned, She-Hulk started out as a regular human lawyer named Jennifer Walters. She mainly worked for a big law firm that eventually branched out to serve superhuman characters that were in legal trouble. At that time, Walters was working on a case that involved a gangster that was set up by a crime boss named Nicholas Trask.

The case involved her defending the gangster, who she believes was innocent and was merely the fall guy that Trask designated so that he could wipe his hands clean of the crime involving the same gangster. Walters, however, got herself into trouble when she leaked a rumor that she had evidence that could incriminate Trask. This proved to be a bad move on her part because it allowed her to become a target for the crime boss.

One night, Bruce Banner, who is actually Jennifer Walters’ cousin, was visiting her for the first time in many years because he wanted to discuss him becoming the Hulk, which was still a secret at that time. While Bruce was on his way to Jennifer, agents of Trask got to her first and mortally wounded her.

Bruce was able to fend the agents off in time before they could finish Jennifer off. He brought her to a hospital so that she could get treated. However, there was no available blood for a transfusion, and this forced Bruce to use his own blood so that he could save his cousin.

After the transfusion, Jennifer actually died but was revived after entering the metaphysical Green Door in the Below-Place, which is found in Marvel Comics’ version of Hell. Her condition eventually stabilized. However, neither Bruce nor the doctors knew what would happen to her after getting a blood transfusion from the Hulk himself.

Bruce eventually had to flee the scene when the police targeted him as the possible suspect for her attempted killing. He had to transform into the Hulk so that he could safely flee the premises. And this meant that he and Jennifer didn’t have time to catch up.

Trask, meanwhile, heard about Jennifer Walters’ survival and attempted a second hit that was meant to finish her off for good. But when she was about to get killed, she transformed into a green giant that was over six feet tall. This was the first time she transformed into She-Hulk. However, unlike Bruce, Jennifer was mostly in control over her consciousness while she was in her transformed state.

It is unknown how the MCU will handle Jennifer Walters’ origin story, considering that it is already public knowledge that Bruce Banner is the Hulk. Of course, the trailer for the upcoming She-Hulk series doesn’t explain much or hasn’t even revealed Nicholas Trask, who is the most vital part of her origin story in the comics.

In that regard, we don’t know how Walters gets her powers in the She-Hulk series, but we are pretty sure that it still involves Banner in one way or another. The only question is whether or not Trask will also try to kill her and force Bruce to give her blood for her to survive.

Another interesting thing to look at is the fact that, in the trailer, it was revealed that Jennifer Walters didn’t have to hide the fact that she is She-Hulk. In the comics, a good part of her origin story involved trying to hide the fact that she is the green giantess and even using She-Hulk as a cover for her supposed death.

Meanwhile, in the series, it was made clear in the trailer that the world knew who she was and that she was trying to find a balance between her identity as She-Hulk and as a defense lawyer. As such, it is interesting to see how the MCU will handle her origin story and her overall development as a character. 

When Does She-Hulk Get Her Powers?

At this point, it is difficult to tell when exactly She-Hulk got her powers in the comics because the timelines in the comics tend to be quite different. But we do know for a fact that she got her powers before Bruce Banner revealed himself to the public as the Hulk.

In the comics, Bruce contacted Jennifer so that they could see each other and discuss his transformation into the Hulk. At that point, not a lot of people knew that he was the Hulk or that he was a superhero because the police even targeted him as a suspect for the attempted murder of Jennifer. That means that this happened quite early in the career of Hulk, considering that he was yet to become a mainstream superhero.

Meanwhile, in the MCU, Jennifer Walters becomes She-Hulk sometime after the events of Endgame, considering that Bruce Banner is now capable of controlling his Hulk state. In the trailer, he was revealed to be in his controlled Hulk state as it was explained in Endgame that he couldn’t return to his human form but was able to balance his two different personalities.

This is where it gets confusing because, in the post-credit scene of Shang-Chi, Bruce Banner was shown in his regular human form instead of his Hulk form. As such, we don’t know if Jennifer Walters gets her powers before or after the events of Shang-Chi. But it could also be possible that, by the time of the She-Hulk series, Bruce Banner had already learned how to transform back from his controlled Hulk state to his regular human form.

Nevertheless, what is clear is the fact that the MCU version of Jennifer Walters becomes She-Hulk after the events of Endgame. Wherever it falls in Phase Four is what is quite confusing, considering that the timeline of Phase Four isn’t exactly clear.