The trailer for Marvel Studio's upcoming TV series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has made its way online, but the jade Jennifer isn't the only one wearing green. Beyond her gamma-irradiated cousin and the villainous Emil Blonsky/Abomination, there will be another, much more unexpected green character from the Marvel Universe showing up.
The trailer briefly shows a character gearing up for action in a strange-looking green costume. This is seemingly the Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Frog-Man, who has one of the more interesting villain/hero stories in Marvel. Though the character might be obscure, Frog-Man is sure to leap into the MCU in an interesting way. Here's how the character started out in the comics, and how he might be used in the TV show.
Who Is Marvel's Frog-Man?
The Frog-Man legacy got its start back in Daredevil #25 with the villainous Leap-Frog, who was created by the illustrious Stan Lee, as well as Gene Colan and Frank Giacoia. This character was Vincent Patilio, a would-be inventor who eventually took to crime to make his money. Fashioning a frog suit with coils that allowed him to leap great heights, the foolish fiend was easily taken down by the likes of Daredevil, and later, Iron Man.
After getting out of prison and losing his wife to cancer, Vincent became a changed, but sullen man. His son Eugene would go in a much different path, using his own variant of his father's frog suit to become the superhero Frog-Man. Frog-Man, much like his villainous father, was pretty terrible at his job, pulling off heroic deeds more out of accident than intention. Nevertheless, Vincent was proud of his son, who had come to work alongside Spider-Man as a hero. Through Eugene, the Frog-Man would thus be associated with heroism, redeeming the actions of the truly reformed Vincent.
How Will Frog-Man Be Portrayed in She-Hulk?
What appears to be Frog-Man has a brief appearance in the trailer for the Disney+ series She-Hulk. Here, the character has an arguably much cooler costume, somewhat downplaying the frog aspects and rendering the suit in a design more reminiscent of Powers Rangers or Super Sentai. If this is indeed Frog-Man, the character may be heroic, helping the fledgling heroine She-Hulk in some way during the events of the series.
On the other hand, this may be Leap-Frog or a sort of amalgam of Leap-Frog and Frog-Man. This combined amphibian vigilante might start off as a villain before having a change of heart. It would make sense for it to be the Vincent Patilio version of the character, given that he started as a Daredevil foe, and the fact that Charlie Cox's Daredevil is rumored to be in the She-Hulk in some capacity.
The character is also inarguably goofy, even with the slightly cooler redesign for the show. This definitely fits the more comedic nature for many of She-Hulk's comics, a tone which seems to have transferred to the TV series. Thus, any potential beatdown that Frog-Man will receive courtesy of She-Hulk will probably be played for laughs. He might not be the coolest Marvel character out there, but credit has to be given for Frog-Man finding a lily pad in the MCU.
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law premieres Aug. 17 on Disney+.