She-Hulk: Who’s the Big Boss Behind the Wrecking Crew?

This article contains She-Hulk spoilers

The last moments of the third episode of She-Hulk introduced an interesting plot development, and I’m not talking about the twerking post-credits scene. As Jen Walters was walking alone at night, she was accosted by four men who turned out to be the MCU version of the Wrecking Crew. She proceeded to easily handle them and sent them running. Thunderball was disappointed to find out that he was unable to break her green skin with a syringe and could not steal her gamma blood.

The group drove off and mentioned something about having a boss, adding some extra intrigue to their sudden appearance. These guys were armed with magical weapons and sent to bust She-Hulk open for someone’s big plans. The question is…who? If these guys are coming off as pre-mutation Bebop and Rocksteady, who is the Shredder, pulling the strings?

Here are some possibilities.

The Leader

“Mr. Blue” Samuel Sterns is one of the biggest loose ends in the MCU. Incredible Hulk ended with him getting gamma blood poured into his open head wound, causing his head to throb and expand. This was obviously supposed to set up a sequel, but complications between Marvel and Universal meant that we were not going to be getting any kind of Incredible Hulk sequel at all. Instead, the closest we got to a follow-up was the comic tie-in Fury’s Big Week, which had Black Widow capture Leader for SHIELD.

Considering the use of Blonsky early on in She-Hulk’s series, there has already been emphasis on Bruce’s solo movie. The Leader’s whole deal was that he was regularly receiving samples of the Hulk’s blood for experimentation, so he very much seems like the most likely villain behind everything.

General Ross (Recast)

Another major Hulk-related character is General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross and with the announcement of the Thunderbolts movie coming down the line, there’s speculation that we might get to see Red Hulk, who led an incarnation of the team a few years back. Giving him a dose of gamma blood might lead to that status quo for the character.

That is, if Marvel is still intent on using Ross. Sadly, actor William Hurt passed away recently and the MCU has been rather reluctant to recast characters. Do they let Ross rest in peace and move on or bring in a new actor for the role? Hell, they could even bring back Sam Elliott from the other Hulk movie for the hell of it.

Either way, sending out the Wrecking Crew as henchmen isn’t exactly Ross’ style. Then again, with the Sokovia Accords in play, Ross is just the kind of jerk to complicate Jen Walters’ life even further.

Power Broker

Sharon Carter got away with everything by the end of Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Not only is her record squeaky clean, but she’s able to continue her lucrative underworld work as the Power Broker. There is just one problem in that, though. As the Power Broker, she lost her golden goose. There is no more super soldier serum supply and the scientist who figured out the formula is dead.

History may be repeating itself. The Hulk was created as an attempt to recreate Captain America. The Hulk’s blood might just fill the void in the Power Broker’s operation and could make for some valuable product. If she can supply the ability to turn yourself into a nigh-invincible sci-fi beast, you better believe there will be plenty of demand.

Valentina Allegra de Fontaine

Speaking of Thunderbolts, this is an obvious choice. Introduced in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and then again in Black Widow, Valentina is the anti-Nick Fury of the current MCU. We don’t exactly know what she’s up to, but with the way she’s been recruiting the likes of Yelena Belova and John Walker, she’s building towards whatever kind of team the Thunderbolts will end up being.

Part of the speculation is that Abomination might be part of the team somehow, but straight-up mugging She-Hulk for her blood might also be on Valentina’s agenda. She could very well be responsible for the Wrecking Crew’s magical weapons and if that group gets more powerful down the line, she might be their benefactor in that as well. The woman is a total mystery and the MCU needs her to pop up as an enigma at least a couple more times before the main event.

The Hood

Another big villain on the horizon is the Hood, who will apparently play a big role in Ironheart. In the comics, Parker Robbins is a low-level criminal who ended up in possession of a magical cloak powered by Dormammu himself. The Hood rose up the ranks of the criminal underworld, briefly took over for the Kingpin, joined Norman Osborn’s Cabal, and even wielded the Infinity Gauntlet for a moment.

The Hood’s main strategy as a supervillain was to bring all the lower-level villains together. He is exactly the kind of guy to be calling the shots for the Wrecking Crew. I don’t know exactly what he’d want with She-Hulk’s blood, but it’s certainly valuable enough to have Parker’s attention. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law could easily be a good way of introducing this future player into the greater MCU.

Xu Xialing

The Wrecking Crew isn’t the only hint at a greater villainous plan against She-Hulk. We can tell through Bruce Banner’s healed arm that the events of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law takes place after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. That means that the footage of Wong fighting the Abomination was old news and somebody likely leaked the footage for specific reasons.

The focus may be on remembering Incredible Hulk, but what about Shang-Chi’s movie? The same movie that ended with his sister Xu Xialing taking over the Ten Rings? Are we really going to wait for Shang-Chi to get a sequel before she actually does that or is she going to get off her ass and create a conspiracy against a super-powered lawyer who really doesn’t have time for this shit?

Sonny Burch

Yeah, nobody really remembers Sonny Burch (I had to look up his name), but he’s still a worthy suspect. The secondary villain from Ant-Man and the Wasp, Sonny’s whole thing is that he deals with the black market tech that exists in a superhero world. He’s just the kind of guy who would throw a couple bucks and weapons at the Wrecking Crew and tell them to get him some Hulk blood. The fact that he’s active on the same coast as She-Hulk is a plus!

Speaking of Ant-Man villains we all forgot about, what about Mitchell Carson? Remember him? The guy who Pym punched in the beginning of the first movie? There’s this huge dangling plot point where he stole some Pym particles during the third act of Ant-Man and we never saw any follow-up to that. I don’t expect him to have anything to do with the Wrecking Crew, but you never know.

Mephisto

Listen, I know it’s not Mephisto. I’m just doing my due diligence. If you keep betting on double zeros in roulette, EVENTUALLY it’s going to land on double zeros! Come on, Satan! Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!