S01.E04: Is This Not Real Magic?

[tkc]

This show just keeps bringing on the laughs... such a breath of fresh air in the MCU, although YMMV!

Did anyone else think Madisynn (two N's, one Y, but it's not where you thinnnk!) looked a bit like Elizabeth Olsen? Now *that* would have been some crazy stunt-casting!

Edited September 9, 2022 by tkc

[AnimeMania]

She-Hulk’s new client Wong is suing a magician for unauthorized use of the Mystic Arts.

Air Date: Sep 8, 2022

[Raja]

7 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

She-Hulk’s new client Wong is suing a magician for unauthorized use of the Mystic Arts.

Air Date: Sep 8, 2022

Dude was lucky that Wong, not Baron Mordo came after him.p

[Brn2bwild]

7 hours ago, tkc said:

Did anyone else think Madisynn (two N's and a Y, but it's not where you think!) looked a bit like Elizabeth Olsen? Now *that* would have been some crazy stunt-casting!

I thought that, too!  I haven't gotten to the end credits, so I'm guessing it's not her, but that would have been awesome.

[marketdoctor]

2 minutes ago, Brn2bwild said:

I thought that, too!  I haven't gotten to the end credits, so I'm guessing it's not her, but that would have been awesome.

IMDB says it was Patty Guggenheim, who was also a voice actress on SuperMansion, which is an interesting pseudo-crossover.

She could play Wanda's cousin or something, though.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Men really ain't ish, especially dating them.  Poor Jen; she already has to work as She-Hulk, but now to only have action as She-Hulk? That would get old really quickly.

Glad to see Wong again! Why do I think that Madisynn will turn out to be something bigger later on? It's not a little thing to give drops of your blood to a demon... 

I wonder at judges who don't blink at superhuman powers.  How can a Kamer-Taj washout compare to the Sorcerer Supreme? 

I loved Jen's dad coming over with security cameras and a shovel.  Love that for her, even though she can take care of herself. 

[thuganomics85]

Put me in the camp that thought the actress playing Madisynn really sounded a lot like Elizabeth Olsen.  Now I'm just picturing how Wanda would act if she had a few drinks in her!

Loved them bring back Wong and having Jen represent him in order to stop a Kamer-Taj reject from abusing the mystic arts for his own gain.  Of course, there really wasn't much lawyering going on since it all ended the natural way: Wong and She-Hulk having to fight a whole bunch of demons from a fire planet!  But hopefully Wong can relax and go back to some binging.  Even if Madisynn spoiled all the big surprises for him on The Sopranos!  Benedict Wong continues to be a national treasure.

I was wondering when they were going to get around to the whole dating subplot that they showed in all of the trailers.  Not surprised "She-Hulk" would end up getting more matches than Jen, but I'm also not surprised that almost all of the dates were a bust.  Even the one that went well at first didn't work out since the guy couldn't handle the whole Jen/She-Hulk split thing.  Online dating is the worst!

Love Jen's dad.  Yeah, it doesn't matter if she can beat the crap out of pretty much everyone, he's still going to make sure her security is up to date and have a shovel near by just in case some holes need to be dug!

Glad that Titania is coming back into the fold.  In a way that no one probably would have predicted: trademarking the She-Hulk name and suing Jen!  Diabolical!!

[angora]

Wong calling the judge "your highness" made me laugh out loud.

It tickled me how they kept upping the ante with Jen's one good date. He's a pediatric oncologist! "I'm sick of talking about myself--I want to hear about you." "Tell me more about how that made you feel." Running to fetch club soda for the wine stain on the couch! Reading Bad Feminist while he waits for Jen to come back from fighting demons! It's a little sad that these seemingly-simple traits are the benchmark for a "perfect" guy, especially the wild concept of wanting to know more about her as a person, but the show did a great job with it, only for the bubble to burst when he couldn't deal with Jen as Jen.

[MrWhyt]

10 hours ago, tkc said:

Did anyone else think Madisynn (two N's and a Y, but it's not where you think!) looked a bit like Elizabeth Olsen?

Add me to the list of people who had to look really close to make sure it wasn't her.

Best episode to date. Love the 4th wall breaks

[tennisgurl]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who was struck by how much Madisynn looked like Elizabeth Olsen, for one crazy second I thought it was one of her sisters! This show is so much fun, it has real Harvey Birdman energy, but with the MCU instead of cartoons. Training in the mystic arts is all fun and games until you face a cease and desist order after accidently summoning a demon horde during your magic act. I continue to love how everyone just takes all of this in stride now, the judges just take things like pacts with demons and shape shifting aliens as a normal part of court proceedings, just one that they are still learning about.

Poor Jen, dating already sucks, adding a double life as She-Hulk just makes it worse. Not even a sexy doctor who just wants to talk about her can handle dealing with Jen/She-Hulk. She wants to just live her regular life, but being She-Hulk is taking over everything, first her career and now her dating life.

We can now add The Sopranos and This is Us to  the list of pop culture things that exist in the MCU, which makes me really curious about how the Snap affected television shootings schedules. Were most shows put on hiatus until they could recast any Snapped actors? 

I love Wong, fourth wall breaking Jen is right, he's so awesome the show might even get a break from Twitter trolls. I wonder if we will see Madisynn again if Jake the Demon Goat shows up to collect on their deal? Maybe he just wants to tell her about how much she can save by switching to State Farm? 

I love Jen's dad, showing up all protective dad even knowing that Jenn has super powers, that was adorable. 

[paigow]

Wong is now The Player Supreme...

I remember Douchebag Donny from 24

[arc]

I’m guessing (with no evidence) that the show was under a corporate edict to skip dealing with Snap stuff, but I wonder if the MCU straight up forgot about the Sokovia Accords or was just told not to mention it here. A civil cease and desist order is much less of a disincentive to stop using magic than the feds locking you up.

Also, why doesn’t Kamar-Taj confiscate or repossess the sling rings when they expel students?

on the other hand, Donny Blaze was an example that having (minor) superpowers didn’t make Blaze pursue a superhero life. He just kept doing magic. Mostly tricks, really.

The hot doctor not being into regular Jen reminded me of a story I once read (I forget where), possibly true: one woman would wake up every day before her husband so she could have a full face of makeup by the time he got up. =(

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, arc said:

The hot doctor not being into regular Jen reminded me of a story I once read (I forget where), possibly true: one woman would wake up every day before her husband so she could have a full face of makeup by the time he got up. =(

Yes. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for one, but the story of a woman needing to have "her face on" when her husband woke up probably has many origins IRL, as well as on screen. 
I'm pretty sure there was also a character in Why Women Kill who practiced this.
And maybe the adoptive mother in Queens Gambit?
Regardless, this show is doing a MARVELous job of conveying all of these issues surrounding women and power (or lack thereof)
——making it ironic/funny rather than feeling like a PSA or homework. 
 

I thought this episode was shorter, but it was actually a few minutes longer than the last 2.
There were a lot of subplots and guest stars for the writers to juggle like a magician's plates in the air.
 

I noticed at least twice when Jen was in She-Hulk mode and she made a telling facial expression that her face looked like a Disney character. 
Not sure what's up with that. 
Tatiana Maslany does not need any CGI for her facial expressions IRL, but maybe the She-Hulk CGI makes it necessary to add expressions back in during post production? Hopefully they'll get better at it with practice.

[Sakura12]

Poor Jen people only want She-Hulk. Now she has to work and play as She-Hulk. If she can still use the name since the Influencer trademarked the name. Lol

Wong makes some interesting friends. Madisynn with a y and 2 n's just goes with the flow. She gets sent to other dimensions, makes pacts with demons and watches the Sopranos and This is us with Wong all while completely wasted. Also she did look like Elizabeth Olsen. 

This show is still just fun and I love it. It's nice to have a relaxing Marvel show with a bunch of cameos. Of course the best cameo would be Deadpool. 

[phalange]

Some of the items on Jen's to-do list: Buy new highligters (purple/green). Meet Nikki in the bathroom at 11:47. Register at Big & Tall. lmao

Jen not being able to get dates as herself, then getting a bunch of matches as She-Hulk really must be demoralizing. And then she thinks she's found a guy who's really sweet and is cool hanging out waiting while she goes to fight demons and then he bails as soon as she's back to her normal self. Ugh.

I laughed when Wong called the judge "Your Highness." I love Madisynn and her random friendship with Wong, bonding over cocktails and This Is Us. I never would've predicted the Sorcerer Supreme being friends with a party girl but their scenes together were hilarious. Hope she comes back.

Titania trademarking the She-Hulk name is so petty!

[Spartan Girl]

I say let’s cancel all the Doctor Strange movies and replace them with a series of Wong and Madisynn watching shows together. Who’s with me?!

Edited September 8, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[paigow]

18 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

I say let’s cancel all the Doctor Strange movies and replace them with a series of Wong and Madisynn watching shows together. 

Next up should be The Book Of Boba Fett

[ItCouldBeWorse]

10 hours ago, arc said:

Also, why doesn’t Kamar-Taj confiscate or repossess the sling rings when they expel students?

Yes, I couldn't understand why they let him keep it, or why Wong didn't surreptitiously "magic" it away from him once he realized he was misusing it.  Then there would have been no need to go to court.

7 hours ago, phalange said:

Titania trademarking the She-Hulk name is so petty!

If she actually had a federal trademark, she would be using a (R) after the name, not a TM.  And it would take at least a year to obtain. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[CailynA]

I love Wongers! I just went and looked up pics of the Madisynn actress and in one or two I see a very vague resemblance to E. O. but very vague. Hubby is a huge E. O. fan and he didn't see it at all. Interesting how everyone makes different connections. BTWs writers I totally put the y where it went in Madisynn. 

[kay1864]

4 hours ago, arc said:

Also, why doesn’t Kamar-Taj confiscate or repossess the sling rings when they expel students?

And why did he get one after only a couple of weeks?

4 hours ago, arc said:

1 hour ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

or why Wong didn't surreptitiously "magic" it away from him once he realized he was misusing it.

I had the same thought! It’s not like he’s exactly bound by the American legal system. 

Edited September 9, 2022 by kay1864

[shapeshifter]

4 hours ago, arc said:

Also, why doesn’t Kamar-Taj confiscate or repossess the sling rings when they expel students?

11 minutes ago, kay1864 said:

And why did he get one after only a couple of weeks?

Is it possible the magician Donny Blaze stole the ring, and Wong was unaware? 

[AimingforYoko]

2 hours ago, phalange said:

I laughed when Wong called the judge "Your Highness." I love Madisynn and her random friendship with Wong, bonding over cocktails and This Is Us. I never would've predicted the Sorcerer Supreme being friends with a party girl but their scenes together were hilarious. Hope she comes back.

I demand a Madisynn and Wongers show!

[Stardancer Supreme]

5 hours ago, arc said:

Also, why doesn’t Kamar-Taj confiscate or repossess the sling rings when they expel students?

On the other hand, Donny Blaze was an example that having (minor) superpowers didn’t make Blaze pursue a superhero life. He just kept doing magic. Mostly tricks, really.

Clearly that needs to be a new requirement.

2 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Yes, I couldn't understand why they let him keep it, or why Wong didn't surreptitiously "magic" it away from him once he realized he was misusing it.  Then there would have been no need to go to court.

We may have to have a "Sorcerer Supreme Wong" show to see how they do things at Kamer-Taj. There's a lot of students from all over the universe there to study magic.  Maybe they do keep track of the washouts; Wong didn't remember Donny until Madisynn dropped into his lap or she was one of multiple women who got sent to other dimensions and hopefully got out of them alive. 

1 hour ago, kay1864 said:

And why did he get one after only a couple of weeks? 

Donny Blaze has some aptitude for magic. He basically wore out his welcome after learning how to create portals.

[retrograde]

Madisynn was so funny to me. "Drunk party girl" could be such a lazy cliche but the acting and the writing were so on point. Would 100% be delighted for a cameo in any other Marvel franchise. 

There were loads of other more under-the-radar things that made me laugh in this episode too - Johnny Blaze's never-explained elderly hype man (who casually knows "Jake" the demon), the lawyer pulling scarves out of his shirt, the who-pays-for-drinks stare down, the snarky interaction with the process server... 

[Angeleyes]

Hot Doc reading a Roxanne Gay novel is a Marvel Easter egg because she was a writer for the World of Wakanda comic series. 

[ItCouldBeWorse]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Is it possible the magician Donny Blaze stole the ring, and Wong was unaware? 

But as soon as he found out, he must have had the ability to magically repossess it.

[Guest]

16 minutes ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

But as soon as he found out, he must have had the ability to magically repossess it.

Not if the wearer has a way to prevent it from being taken magically. 

[Ailianna]

There must be something that prevents people from just taking the rings away from someone though. Otherwise, in combat, one magician/sorcerer would just disarm the other. And we've seen that's definitely not how magic fights go.

[festivus]

I lost it at Madisynn's "Case closed", lol. I need to make that my text alert or something.

I need She-Hulk to be in everything. Not just everything Marvel. Knock some creepy blond heads together in that House of Dragons show. Make a pavlova on the Great British Baking Show and glare that awful Paul Hollywood down if he dares to criticize it.  Be the narrator for a show. Any show. Host Jeopardy. 

[shapeshifter]

52 minutes ago, festivus said:

I need She-Hulk to be in everything. Not just everything Marvel.…Host Jeopardy. 

Yes, please.

[paigow]

1 hour ago, festivus said:

I need She-Hulk to be in everything.  Host Jeopardy. 

She-Hulk: If you fail to phrase your answer in the form of a question again, there will not be a next time!

[Tachi Rocinante]

The show is beginning to hit its stride. 

• I like how Jen wears her "Josh Baskin at the end of Big" suit before she goes to work.
• Two of the cases she was working on have Marvel name-drop references (Lee/Byrne, etc.)
• However, the "all men suck" trope is just plain lazy.

[starri]

33 minutes ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Two of the cases she was working on have Marvel name-drop references (Lee/Byrne, etc.)

The firm name is the same: Goodman (Martin Goodman, the founder of Timely/Marvel), Lieber (Stan's real last name), Kurtzberg (Jack Kirby's real name) and Holliway.

[HelloooKitty]

Expected to hate Madisynn. Very much did not.   Madisynn and Wonggers- BFF!

[Keywestclubkid]

“It’s spelled with two n’s and one y, but it’s not where you’d think”

bring her back lol 

[Chicago Redshirt]

19 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

Yes, I couldn't understand why they let him keep it, or why Wong didn't surreptitiously "magic" it away from him once he realized he was misusing it.  Then there would have been no need to go to court.

If she actually had a federal trademark, she would be using a (R) after the name, not a TM.  And it would take at least a year to obtain. 

Besides the "because then we wouldn't have an episode" rationale, Wong said that he wanted to make an example of Donny Blaze so that no one would ever practice unauthorized magic again. Getting the sling ring away from Donny doesn't prevent other washouts from doing similar shenanigans. 

Then again, having Donny agree at demon-point to the cease and desist doesn't either, so....

Funny thing is, Jen never seems to use the term She-Hulk herself in any way that could be considered a violation of Titania's supposed intellectual property, so it seems like Titania will have no case. As Jen said, she didn't claim to come up with the term, and as far as we know, the only time she has voluntarily used it is in her Matchers profile. (I wonder if the show tried to see if Match/Tinder or whoever would want to be in the show and they declined or what). 

16 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

Clearly that needs to be a new requirement.

We may have to have a "Sorcerer Supreme Wong" show to see how they do things at Kamer-Taj. There's a lot of students from all over the universe there to study magic.  Maybe they do keep track of the washouts; Wong didn't remember Donny until Madisynn dropped into his lap or she was one of multiple women who got sent to other dimensions and hopefully got out of them alive. 

Donny Blaze has some aptitude for magic. He basically wore out his welcome after learning how to create portals.

Wong seemed to know exactly who Donny was immediately when Madisynn arrived. But I could be wrong.

15 hours ago, retrograde said:

Johnny Blaze's never-explained elderly hype man (who casually knows "Jake" the demon), the lawyer pulling scarves out of his shirt, the who-pays-for-drinks stare down, the snarky interaction with the process server... 

Donny Blaze was the character here. Johnny Blaze happens to be another Marvel character who was the original incarnation of the Ghost Rider.

And I did love Donny's posse of poseurs. 

10 hours ago, Ailianna said:

There must be something that prevents people from just taking the rings away from someone though. Otherwise, in combat, one magician/sorcerer would just disarm the other. And we've seen that's definitely not how magic fights go.

I don't think there is anything that prevents someone from taking a sling ring away from someone.

In Spider-Man: No Way Home, Spidey manages to snag Dr. Strange's sling ring and have him stuck in another dimension for a while. It's been a while since I saw the first Dr. Strange, but I want to say that there was a point where someone got sent through a portal after being stripped of a sling ring in that as well.

Why a sorcerer doesn't keep like 12 sling rings on them at any given time, though, is beyond me.

[steelyis]

16 hours ago, retrograde said:

Madisynn was so funny to me. "Drunk party girl" could be such a lazy cliche but the acting and the writing were so on point. Would 100% be delighted for a cameo in any other Marvel franchise.

1 hour ago, HelloooKitty said:

Expected to hate Madisynn. Very much did not.   Madisynn and Wonggers- BFF!

Madisynn is amazing!

On paper she should be utterly unlikable. Nah! She is an absolute blast, and I love her!

[xaxat]

Add me to the group that wants to see more Madisynn. Think about it, she got thrown into another dimension, successfully negotiated with a demon for her return and apparently killed a goblin. And managed to get through it like it was no big deal. She definitely has natural talent in the Mystical Arts.

27 minutes ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

And I did love Donny's posse of poseurs. 

"I know Jake!" and their "real magic" had me laughing so hard.

I also thought it was funny that Wong's resolve to go after Donny happened not directly because of Madisynn's story, but because she spoiled The Sopranos for him.

[tennisgurl]

Does Jake the demon also go by the name...Mephisto?!

[shapeshifter]

30 minutes ago, xaxat said:

Add me to the group that wants to see more Madisynn. Think about it, she got thrown into another dimension, successfully negotiated with a demon for her return and apparently killed a goblin. And managed to get through it like it was no big deal. She definitely has natural talent in the Mystical Arts.

I was trying to hate Madisynn, especially because she had a (Cali) Valley Girl accent but claimed to be from Florida. 
But she won my heart too. 

[arc]

1 hour ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

(I wonder if the show tried to see if Match/Tinder or whoever would want to be in the show and they declined or what). 

The show actually ended up doing a promotion on Tinder where you could match with She-Hulk. (And you probably already know this, but Match owns Tinder, and most of the other American online dating services.)

[ItCouldBeWorse]

15 hours ago, ItCouldBeWorse said:

But as soon as he found out, he must have had the ability to magically repossess it.

Sure, but I doubt he was that talented. Would have been interesting if Wong had tried and failed, though.

Edited September 9, 2022 by ItCouldBeWorse

[mac123x]

Nice to see them continuing the theme of deceiving someone to get what you want is a-okay as long as you're a woman.  

[arc]

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I don't think there is anything that prevents someone from taking a sling ring away from someone.

Donny didn’t even wear his sling ring full time! He put it on when he felt he was losing his audience. He probably doesn’t sleep with it on. Wong coulda pulled the same trick Strange did in DS1 where he stole a book out of the library with a tiny portal just big enough to reach a hand through.

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

Wong said that he wanted to make an example of Donny Blaze so that no one would ever practice unauthorized magic again. Getting the sling ring away from Donny doesn't prevent other washouts from doing similar shenanigans. 

Fair, but it sure seems like MCU lore is that a sling ring is necessary to open portals* and therefore those rings should be confiscated from all ex-sorcerers in the expulsion process. As for other types of “real magic”, well, yes, Kamar-Taj should have some protocols. As it is, all they have is Mordo, a now-unaffiliated mystic vigilante who swore to eliminate sorcery from those he deemed unworthy.

Anyways, it feels like Jen extracted this promise from Donny under duress.

* unless it’s your actual superpower, like America Chavez.

[tkc]

3 hours ago, Chicago Redshirt said:

I don't think there is anything that prevents someone from taking a sling ring away from someone.

Here is some picture evidence of a sling ring being stolen:

Spoiler

From Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, here's America Chavez holding the sling ring she took from Strange:

Edited September 9, 2022 by tkc

[Guest]

1 hour ago, mac123x said:

Nice to see them continuing the theme of deceiving someone to get what you want is a-okay as long as you're a woman.  

Who deceived someone to get what they wanted in this episode? Who did it in a previous episode?

The only time I can think of is with the shapeshifter and the entire plot was that it wasn’t a-okay. 

[xaxat]

On 9/8/2022 at 12:31 PM, Stardancer Supreme said:

How can a Kamer-Taj washout compare to the Sorcerer Supreme? 

With a bunny.

[mrc12671]

First off, based on the preferences in my house, Wong has impeccable taste in TV shows.

I get the whole Elizabeth Olsen thing with Madisynn, but at first glance, Donny's older associate struck me as Ron Chephas Jones from This Is Us.  What a casting coup that would've been for the episode. 

[retrograde]

2 hours ago, mrc12671 said:

Donny's older associate struck me as Ron Chephas Jones from This Is Us.  What a casting coup that would've been for the episode. 

Apparently the actual actor, Leon Lamar, is 104 years old?!

[paigow]

On 9/8/2022 at 1:30 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Glad that Titania is coming back into the fold.  In a way that no one probably would have predicted: trademarking the She-Hulk name and suing Jen!  Diabolical!!

Blonsky would not object to She-Abomination as a temporary solution until the lawsuit is resolved. [Assuming he has a trademark]