Emil Blonsky, introduced in the second-ever MCU film, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, was a highly decorated member of the British Royal Marines’ special-ops division. Of course, his life changed dramatically when he saw what the Hulk could do.
Enlisted in his original appearance by General Thaddeus Ross to help track down and apprehend Dr. Bruce Banner, (who at the time was a high-level fugitive) Blonsky witnessed the full destructive might of the Hulk during the film’s first act. Blonsky, craving that type of power for himself, underwent a process meant to turn him into a Captain America-style super soldier but was also injected with a sample of Banner’s blood, turning him into a Hulk-like being known as The Abomination.
Now, Blonsky has cropped up again in Marvel’s latest series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, looking for parole for his crimes several years prior which he committed as Abomination. In the show, he’s decidedly looser and more relaxed, even when he transforms.
Some individuals online have begun to take issue with this change in mindset for the character, but producer Jessica Gao wants to set things straight.
Jessica Gao Responds to Abomination Haters
Some fans on Twitter and Reddit spoke out over the past two weeks to contend the decision to change Blonsky’s personality.
editlool pondered over Blonsky’s characterization:
“what the hell did they do to emil blonsky's character...”
secretagentmart took issue with a number of things in the series:
“wow, not only did they made a joke out of the Hulk, Captain America and the She-Hulk... they made fucking Emil Blonsky into a fucking clown ? what.”
Usual_Current3262 pointed out that Blonsky might not really be as he presents himself:
"Hopefully it's a ploy, otherwise he got the Disney treatment. I seriously hope it's just a ploy."
ebbor0289 is willing to be patient, even if they’re not presently a fan of this new direction:
“so far I'm not the biggest fan of this new Emil, but still excited to see where he is going“
Jessica Gao, producer of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law responded to such criticisms regarding Emil Blonsky’s characterization in the show during an interview with Radio Times.
Gao began by noting the Abomination’s important place in the Hulk mythos:
“I just thought... it would be really fun to pull this character, who was such an indelible part of Hulk lore, and pull him into this Hulk show.”
She added that as it’s been a ”long span of time” since audiences have spent any real time with Blonsky, it would be fun to show “a different side” to the character:
“But also to have fun with this character, because we saw him so long ago [and] we also saw him in such a serious capacity. It would be so nice to bring him in and actually make him have fun with it and actually let him play around with this character and show you kind of a different side, because there is that long span of time.”
Gao noted that 14 years can change just about anyone, being sure to mention that Emil was incarcerated for the entirety of that span:
“Anything could have happened to this man over the course of the last 14 years... People change, especially if they’ve been sitting in a detention cell somewhere. We don’t know what’s happened all that time and people go through these kinds of changes after such a huge thing has happened to them – and then they’ve had to sit with it for over a decade.”
What Is the Abomination’s Endgame?
It’s quite possible, and perhaps extremely probable, that Emil Blonsky is playing everyone.
The man has been locked up in the highest of high-security prisons for over a decade. All he wants is to be free and, as he claims, live his own life peacefully. But it’s arguably likely that he’s just lying to get the release from prison that he so desperately desires and that this earthy-crunchy “namaste” persona is all a front.
And if that is his play, then it worked wonders; at the end of She-Hulk’s third episode, Blonsky was granted parole. Now, whether he reverts back to his old monstrous ways remains to be seen, but perhaps his rage will be fully reawakened if Bruce Banner once again arrives on the scene, as is speculated.
While haters are going to continue to hate, Marvel Studios’ She-Hulk: Attorney at Law presses onward, releasing new episodes every Thursday, exclusively on Disney+.
