This post contains spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 5
She-Hulk might be a new character to the MCU, but she’s already proven herself to be at the center of the franchise’s superheroic world. In addition to being cousin to the Hulk, and thus privy to what Steve Rogers can do all night, Jen Walters’s job in superhuman law brings her into contact with other aspects of the superhero world, from small-timers the Wrecking Crew to super-influencer Titania. Even more than a sitcom about a super-lawyer, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been a tour of the cottage industries built around superheroes.
Episode 5 continues that trend by bringing Jen into the world of superhero fashion. Thanks to the sleuthing of would-be style icons Nikki and Pug, Jen meets Luke Jacobson, a hyper-exclusive fashion designer who only creates for the greatest of heroes. Think Edna from The Incredibles, but somehow even more condescending. While the episode doesn’t give us a look at the costume Luke makes for Jen, we do get a quick peek at another work in progress: a yellow headpiece with opaque red eyes and tiny horns at the top.
We’ve known for some time that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law would continue Matt Murdock’s journey into the MCU, which began with a brief cameo in Spider-Man: No Way Home and will lead to the Disney+ show Daredevil: Born Again. But this is our first glimpse at Matt’s new superhero look outside of the trailers, and to the surprise of some, it is his old look. Daredevil is best known for his all-red getup, the one adapted for the 2003 film and the Netflix series. That costume didn’t debut until issue #7 of his solo series. For the first six issues, Matt wore a much more striking red and yellow outfit.
Although the original costume certainly has its fans and has been repurposed in interesting ways (shout out to D-Man), many consider it an ugly stop-gap between the all-black costume created for the revised origin Frank Miller and John Romita Jr. created in Daredevil: The Man Without Fear, and his classic red costume.
To be sure, the yellow costume may simply be a way to distinguish the MCU Daredevil from his Netflix counterpart. Although the MCU series is bringing back stars Charlie Cox and Vincent D’onofrio from the Netflix series, everyone involved has been pretty cagey about the relationship between the two shows. We’ve only recently found out it will be less a Season 4 than a complete reboot. The yellow suit could be used to indicate that this is a slightly different Matt Murdock than the one who brutalized bad guys in a hallway, even if he has been defending Hell’s Kitchen for a while.
Whatever the plans, She-Hulk episode five also signaled another difference from the Netflix shows. There, superhero costumes came via Melvin Potter, a reformed supervillain who fought under the name the Gladiator. With a comic book history that only encompasses three issues of the forgotten mystery series Dakota North, Luke Jacobson gives writers a lot of room for interpretation. Here’s hoping that whenever Matt’s ready to return to his usual red get-up, he gives old Melvin a call.