Disney has been suffering from review bombing as of late with many of its biggest releases facing a bombardment of negative reactions. In the last year alone, Eternals, Moon Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Lightyear, and Ms. Marvel have all suffered this unfortunate fate - some before release and others afterward for divisive content or representation.
Eternals received hatred for featuring an LGBTQIA+ relationship; Moon Knight was bombed for its inclusion of alleged propaganda; Ms. Marvel was widely framed as childish and woke. Only Thor: Love and Thunder and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness have appeared to escape this review bombing trend out of the MCU's 2022 releases.
Now, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is preparing to premiere on Disney+, and the early reactions from critics have proven to be extremely positive. But under a day away from the first episode, the MCU legal comedy has suffered from the unfortunate review bombing trend of its predecessors.
She-Hulk Faces Review Bombing
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has faced review bombing on IMDb ahead of its Disney+ premiere on Thursday, August 18, with the majority of negative reactions coming from men over 30.
The show currently has 44.4% ten-out-of-ten ratings and 41.1% one-out-of-ten reactions, with a fairly even mix of everything in between.
The demographic shows an overwhelmingly positive response from women and a strong response from younger men. However, the show has faced significant negativity from men over 30.
One critic referred to Entertainment Weekly's review where they called She-Hulk "Marvel’s Horniest Show Yet" and questioned if Disney had "forgotten who [their] target market is:"
"This is the EXACT headline in Entertainment Weekly’s article about how ‘sex positive’ the show is. Umm, Disney, have you forgotten who your target market is? How many billions of dollars would you have NOT made off of families if the Avengers were sexing it up?"
Another called the visuals "1995 Syfy channel effects" and criticized the "terrible writing and premise:"
"If you can get past the 1995 Syfy channel effects, you are left with terrible writing and premise for a 'show.' The best argument against this show is how much the “critics” and media are pushing it. Need I say more, spare your eyes and watch Iron Man 1 again."
Defending the series, one user called for reviewers to wait until the premiere to leave reviews, leaving a ten-star rating to "counter negative reviews:"
"Please Don’t give negative reviews it is not released yet. I'm giving 10 stars to counter negative reviews of 163 people without even watching the shows yet to be released. I will change my ratings after Viewing."
One other defender called out review-bombers for "determining the quality" of the show based on their "fragility and bigotry:"
"Angry white boys are review bombing the show before it has even released. Imagine determining the quality of a show you haven’t even watched based on your fragility and bigotry. They see anything that isn’t a white straight man and they throw a tantrum. Don’t you grown ass men have nothing better to do? Snowflakes."
Lastly, another review once again left a full rating to balance out the review-bombers, pointing out how nonsensical it is to form an opinion "before having the full picture:"
"Therefore to balance hate out it will get a 10 until I see it! It is stupid to be affectionate about entertainment or anything for that matter before having the full picture! We live in a time of fanboys and fanatics!"
Marvel's Review Bombing Trend Continues
As She-Hulk has yet to premiere its first episode, these negative reviews clearly are no reflection of the series' quality, especially after the positive response from the critics. Both Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel suffered the same fate but ended up being generally praised by fans throughout their six-episode runs.
There's no telling exactly why such a majority of these review-bomb reactions have come from men over 30, but there has been some controversy surrounding the series on social media. The series' tone and fourth-wall-breaking have proven divisive, with many being particularly disappointed with seeing the Hulk represented in a comedic way.
Looking ahead to the future, the trend of review bombing is showing no signs of slowing down as Marvel Studios continues to suffer this fate regularly. One can easily imagine the reactions that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will face later this year, as it is rumored to replace the late Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa with Letitia Wright's Shuri in the starring role and heroic mantle.
Not only is the mass negative reactions to She-Hulk dangerous but so are the huge number of ten-out-of-ten reactions, as many continue to give opinions on the latest projects before even seeing them. Perhaps review sites such as IMDb should prohibit users from leaving their thoughts until after release to prevent trends such as this in the future.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres on Thursday, August 18, on Disney+.
