The debut of the first She-Hulk trailer at yesterday’s Disney Upfront has kept all of us at The Cosmic Circus busy. Tatiana Maslany stars as the green attorney at law. The trailer and press release confirmed our reporting about Wong (Benedict Wong) and The Wrecking Crew and gave us a look at a Frog-Man character that may actually tie in with Daredevil’s appearance in the series.
We can also now share a possible Easter egg we noticed in the trailer. There’s a hidden in plain sight QR code in one of the scenes. As you probably recall, QR codes were used in Moon Knight episodes and when scanned led fans to links where they could pick up free digital comics related to the series. Marvel likes to tie together all their shows and movies. It seems that the She-Hulk series will be no exception to this.
The trailer has a red-barred glass prison that we also saw in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The cell’s occupant is the source of our mysterious QR code easter egg. Emil Blonsky, played by Tim Roth, and otherwise known as Abomination, is the resident baddie here. You may remember Blonsky from the 2008 The Incredible Hulk movie starring Ed Norton.
In the trailer, a suit-clad Jennifer Walters approaches the prisoner in his cell. We then cut to a brief shot of Blonsky. This is one of those blink and you’ll miss it situations. If you zoom in, the image on the costume on his chest is unmistakably a QR code, even if it’s a bit blurry.
It may be simply a part of his costume, like a prisoner number code with information about him for his guards. However, considering the way Moon Knight used QR codes in its show, it’s very possible this will be a scannable code when the series airs.
Where does this She-Hulk series QR code go?
Right now, we don’t know, and that’s a bit frustrating. We’ve tried to scan it without success. It may be a bit early for it to be live anyway, if indeed it is will be a usable QR code when the show airs. And while this isn’t a sure thing, it seems very likely that they will use scannable QR codes again in a Marvel series.
While we’re waiting, we can speculate and use the Moon Knight QR code inclusion as a template for what to expect for this in She-Hulk, and perhaps in Ms. Marvel as well. To the delight of Moon Knight fans, QR codes hidden in the episodes let viewers visit a Marvel website where they could get free digital copies of certain comic books. Which comics came up generally depended on the episode and characters involved in the series.
An executive producer on Moon Knight, Grant Curtis, told Adam Vary at Variety that the QR codes were inspired by the show Bob’s Burgers. He also said something particularly interesting about the future potential use of QR codes.
“I think it was greeted with a lot of positivity, you know, in terms of the numbers that we’re seeing… And as long as you can do it organically, I think it’s a pretty cool way to extend the engagement and to go from screen to page and vice versa. As the guy who enjoys the engagement that Bob’s Burgers gives me, I think it can be a very interesting aspect for the MCU to explore in the future.” – Grant Curtis to Variety (5/5/22)
Given the success of the Moon Knight comic QR codes, it would be reasonable to guess that this QR code on Emil Blonsky could eventually lead to another comic giveaway.
Moon Knight’s first QR code led to the character’s first appearance – Werewolf by Night #32. Perhaps a She-Hulk code could lead to the character’s first comic appearance in The Savage She-Hulk #1 from 1980. Or the QR code on Emil’s chest might lead to Tales to Astonish #90 from 1967, where Abomination made his first appearance. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.
She-Hulk will premiere on Wednesday, August 17th on Disney+. If you can’t wait for the premiere and need more amazing Jennifer Walters content, check out Vin’s comic reading guide to classic She-Hulk. It’ll give you a great taste of what comics to read before watching She-Hulk.
Are you excited about She-Hulk? Where do you think the QR code in the She-Hulk trailer will eventually lead? Please share your thoughts will us on Twitter @MyCosmicCircus
Source: Variety Interview with Grant Curtis / Cryptic HD Quality 4k Screenshot on Twitter
