She-HulkThe seventh installment of Daredevil didn’t feature Daredevil, nor did we get to see that elusive combination for our lovely daughter. However, Jen was lucky enough to reunite with two previous characters in unexpected ways. She-Hulk brought back Emil Blonsky aka The Abomination with his wacky therapy group. We don’t know if they’ll factor in Jen’s impending fight against Intelligencia, but at least Jen has a team of unexpected super friends. Here are the comic book heroes who have appeared in She-Hulkand a brief history of their place in Marvel history.
Who is part of the Abomination therapy group?
In the episode, Jen travels with parole officer Blonsky to the Summer Twilights ranch, where the now-reformed self-help guru resides. But, Jen ends up being stuck there for several hours after a weird fight breaks out. We meet Man-Bull and El Aguila as they fight and inadvertently destroy Jen’s Prius. It turns out that they are two of many superpowered people in Blonsky’s therapy group who have a love-hate relationship with each other. Why? Because Man-Bull is, well, a man who looks like a bull, and El Augila looks a lot like a matador.
Jen eventually encounters the rest of the heroic crew who reunite for healing. There’s Porcupine (a man dressed as a giant porcupine), Saracen (a vampire who walks by day…or so he claims), and Wrecker, whom Jen angrily recognizes after her previous encounter with the Wrecking Crew. In the end, it’s all good as the group helps her work through her frustration and pain with Josh (who’s totally a bad guy…more on that later). They tell her they love her like “Just Jen” and encourage her to love that part of herself too. Thus, she gets much-needed respite and healing in the midst of things.
Are the members of Abomination’s Therapy villains in Marvel Comics?
Of course, viewers want to know if the characters that appear in the Abomination’s therapy group are in Marvel comics, and if they’re villains. And the short answer to that is yes. Let’s explore the history of these She-Hulk cameos.
Man-Bull in Marvel Comics
Man-Bull aka William Taurens, first appeared in 1971’s Daredevil #78, where he worked for Mr. Kline as a kidnapper to find people for some sort of evil experiment. Man-Bull ends up undergoing this same “treatment”, which made him a minotaur. In the comics he went against Matador, but that’s not the case in She-Hulk.
El Aguila in Marvel Comics
El Aguila debuted in 1979 Power Man and Iron Fist #58, so it’s obvious who he fought against. He has the ability to create bioelectric energy charges from his body, which we see him do with his sword in the series. What’s not to love about a man who’s willing to fight for his new friend who’s been ghosted? El Aguila is a welcome part of the Abomination therapy group.
Porcupine in Marvel Comics
Porcupine made its first appearance in Tales to Astonish #48 (1963) as Ant-Man and the Wasp nasty. His real name was Alexander Gentry and he was a weapons designer for the United States Army. Gentry set out to make a porcupine-based supersuit. But rejected by his employer, Gentry took his suit and turned to a life of crime, becoming porcupine. His odd costume would allow him to fire quills at his enemies, so that’s one thing. In The Abomination’s therapy group, Porcupine prefers to keep their costume on, it just makes them feel safer.
Buckwheat in Marvel Comics
Meanwhile, Saracen is a much newer Marvel vampire to the universe, having first appeared in Blade: Vampire Hunter #1 in 1999. It’s heavily implied that he only “thinks” he’s a vampire, so he may not be one in the MCU. Of course, the MCU will soon be introducing vampires and other horror creatures to its world, so who knows? He is, however, a champion for being weird and a bit sleazy.
Wrecker in Marvel Comics
And, Wrecker is of course part of the Wrecking Crew we met earlier this season. This group of ground-level villains cause a lot of trouble, but aren’t always as together as they should be. In the comics, Wrecker is an original member of the Wrecking Crew and their boss. But it looks like She-Hulk, Wrecker responds to someone else whose identity is still unknown.
Interestingly, the show portrays all of these Marvel Comics villains as reformed and maybe even decent beings who are now Jen’s friends. Each of these comic book villains, or are they heroes now, did they come to the Abomination’s therapy group willingly, after all. They just want to improve. There’s no indication that they play it in any way, but we do know one bad guy: Josh.
What’s wrong with Josh? She-Hulk?
Josh is the only reason Jen’s new therapy team is ready to ride or die because of her ghost. As we saw, they seemed like a match made in heaven. That’s until they sleep together and he ghosts her. We already knew Josh was potentially sleazy after seeing someone watching them at the end of episode six. But, we find out that Josh made a copy of Jen’s phone, took a picture of her sleeping naked in her bed AND apparently got a blood sample from her. Why? He is part of this Intelligencia collective and was sent to retrieve this sample.
It doesn’t look like Josh has a comedic counterpart at the moment, but either way, trouble is on Jen’s doorstep. And, while we love healing, we also want Emil Blonsky and his therapy group to join She-Hulk in taking down Josh, HulkKing and company.
