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What that surprise 'She-Hulk' reveal could mean for the Hulk family and the MCU
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law went out with a big surprise.
It wouldn't be an MCU show without a few surprises, and the season finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law definitely went out with a pretty big one, adding a new character whose presence has big implications for the future heroic careers of Jennifer Walters and Bruce Banner. But who, exactly, is this new character, and what do they have to offer to the current state of the MCU? Let's take a closer look.
**SPOILER WARNING! Spoilers ahead for the season finale of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law!**
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Very early in the season, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) took a trip off-planet to head back to Sakaar, the world he made his home for a few years in between the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron and Thor: Ragnarok. By the finale, Bruce is finally back on Earth, but he's not alone.
In the final minutes of the episode, Bruce arrives at a Banner/Walters family dinner and reveals his Hulked out Sakaaran son, Skaar, has come back to Earth with him. For the moment, that's all we get of this reveal. Skaar doesn't speak, Banner promises he'll explain more about his time on Sakaar some other time, and we head off to wrap up a couple of other things before the season's over.
But who exactly is Skaar, and why is he important to the MCU going forward? Like the MCU version, the comics version of the character is Bruce Banner/Hulk's son from Sakaar, who was introduced during the World War Hulk storyline (which takes place after the Sakaar-set Planet Hulk) and then given his own series, Skaar: Son of Hulk, to explain who he is and how he got to Earth in the Marvel Universe. In that version of events, it's revealed that Skaar rose up as a warrior among his people, earned an ancient power which allowed him to manipulate the stone of Sakaar itself, and even battled the Silver Surfer in an effort to keep Galactus from eating the planet. Unfortunately, his methods were so cutthroat and so brutal that he was banished from his home planet.
So, Skaar wound up on Earth, and pretty much immediately declared his intentions to kill the Hulk, signaling some abandonment issues that would continue to play out over the course of his time on Banner's home planet. That said, Skaar also recognized that the Banner who existed post-World War Hulk was simply not the same person (in the comics, Hulk has many different personas) who fathered him on Sakaar, and eventually a mentor-mentee relationship was established. Skaar was able to work with heroes, team-up with the Avengers, and even act as a double agent when Norman Osborn formed the Dark Avengers, spying on the group for Captain America.
So, what does all this mean for the MCU? It's too soon to tell, of course, and obviously the scaffolding of the world this version of Skaar has entered is quite different from the Marvel Comics universe circa 2007, when he made his first appearance. What's particularly interesting about his introduction, though, is that Skaar looks to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder. He doesn't speak, doesn't even smile, and seems a little reluctant to be at the family dinner at all. That could be nerves, or it could be a guy who really didn't want to leave Sakaar, but had to because it was the only way to avoid some kind of punishment. Now he's on the road with his Dad, who might not have even known about him until just a little while ago.
That means Skaar could emerge as a new antihero in the MCU, or an all-out villain, a young, powerful guy who resents his father and, by extension, his cousin She-Hulk. Season 2 of the series could explore this a great deal, and his adventures might even lead him to a team like the Thunderbolts somewhere down the line. However the MCU decides to use him, Skaar's presence is a big deal, and definitely makes the Hulk family dynamic more complicated.
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