She-Hulk Episode 3: The Wrecking Crew, explained

She-Hulk Episode 3 has introduced a new group of ground-level MCU villains: The Wrecking Crew. But who are they, and why are they in the show?

Not every Marvel Cinematic Universe adversary can have ambitions as grand as equalizing the entire universe. Thanos was great, but some of the franchise’s best villains thrive off their small-scale desires.

For example: Kilgrave in Jessica Jones simply wanted to use his power to manipulate anyone to his black heart’s content; Kingpin in Daredevil wanted to rise to the top of the New York food chain; and Iron Man’s Iron Monger just wanted to get rich by funding terrorists.

With the MCU timeline barreling towards Kang and the rest of the Multiverse Saga, She-Hulk has debuted a famous group of minor villains: The Wrecking Crew.

She-Hulk: The Wrecking Crew appear in Episode 3

At the end of She-Hulk Episode 3, Jennifer Walters (Tatiana Maslany) is ambushed by four men wiedling Asgardian-powered weapons, such as a crowbar and ball-and-chain.

“Did you guys rob an Asgardian construction worker?” she asks, before they all attack her. Obviously, she wins without breaking a sweat, and they run away. It becomes clear they were trying to extract her blood in a bid to get her powers, but they failed rather dramatically.

This calamitous group of wannabes are believed to be The Wrecking Crew, villains with a long history in the comics.

She-Hulk: Who are The Wrecking Crew?

In the comics, The Wrecking Crew are a team of four supervillains: the Wrecker, Bulldozer, Piledriver, and Thunderball. They made their debut in a 1974 issue of The Defenders.

They were first formed when Dirk Garthwaite, aka the Wrecker, was approached by Dr. Eliot Franklin, aka Thunderball, in prison and asked to retrieve a gamma bomb Franklin had designed, so he could ransom New York City for millions of dollars.

The Wrecking Crew take on the Avengers, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four in the comics.

The Wrecker was earlier given powers by Karnilla the Norn Queen after she mistook him for Loki. After retrieving his enchanted crowbar, he gets his fellow prisoners – Henry Camp (Bulldozer) and Brian Calusky (Piledriver) – to grab it, sparking a lightning bolt that grants them all powers.

While not as fierce as Doctor Doom, Thanos, Galactus, or other Marvel villains, The Wrecking Crew have faced off against some of Earth’s mightiest heroes, including the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, and Spider-Man. Of course, they’ve also battled She-Hulk and Daredevil, who’s also set to appear in the show.

While they’re usually returned to prison after a brief escape to fight some superheroes, they’ve also joined the Thunderbolts and Baron Zemo’s third incarnation of the Masters of Evil. Oh, they also took part in the Secret Wars event, which could be a sign of what’s to come.

She-Hulk: Who are The Wrecking Crew working for?

As they’ve only just been introduced in the show, we don’t know much about who they are, how they came into possession of their super-powered armory, or – crucially – who they work for.

There’s a few likely candidates. Firstly, they could be working for Titania (Jameela Jamil), the superhuman influencer who briefly fought She-Hulk in the first episode. We’ve not really seen her since, so it’s possible she’s become jealous of the hero’s publicity and wants a taste of it herself.

The most probable character is Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus). First introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and seen briefly in Black Widow, her agenda is still rather mysterious.

However, we know she’s interested in recruiting powerful individuals, regardless of whether they’re a hero or villain. She’s also rumored to be the head of the Thunderbolts team in the upcoming movie, so perhaps she wants her own Hulk for Marvel’s Suicide Squad.

She-Hulk Episode 4 arrives on Disney+ on Thursday, September 8. You can sign up to Disney+ here.