The following contains minor spoilers for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law Episode 7, "The Retreat," now streaming on Disney+.

The hotly anticipated return of Daredevil to the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the subject of great glee for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Matt Murdock's fellow super-lawyer makes an easy pairing, and the announced return of the hero in Daredevil: Born Again has elevated anticipation of his cameo on the show to stratospheric levels. Naturally, the show is having a little fun while teasing it out, as befits its self-effacing, fourth-wall-breaking heroine. There's been no sign of him as of this writing, which is part of the joke.

The jabs go deeper than that. Season 1, Episode 7, "The Retreat" introduces a bevvy of openly goofy reformed villains to the MCU. As deliberately ridiculous as they are, most of them stem from comics generally considered far darker nowadays. In fact, many of them even have times to the more gritty Netflix heroes, like Daredevil. In the process, She-Hulk reminds audiences that Marvel's gritty heroes were often sillier than their reputation suggests.

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The Netflix shows justifiably earned praise for their street-level look at life as a superhero. Beginning with Daredevil, they dealt seriously with topics such as drug addiction, sexual abuse, racism and the hard limits of superpowers against the all-too-real horrors of the world. They were an apt reflection of the most celebrated arcs from the comics themselves, notably Frank Miller's run on the Daredevil comics and Jessica Jones turn as a mind-controlled minion in Alias.

However, most of those characters had their share of lighter phases in the comics, particularly earlier in their runs when the stories were decidedly less bleak in tone. Gimmicky villains were often a part of that, as earnest efforts to expand a given hero's rogues gallery often resulted in bizarre and short-lived figures. Given the heroes' subsequent reputations as brooding, violent and morally compromised figures, such villains can sometimes become a skeleton in the closet.

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"The Retreat" finds a bumper-crop of them to first torment and then validate Jen Walters when she's stuck at Emil Blonsky's spiritual retreat. The former Abomination appears to have made good on his promise to walk the straight and narrow, and he has attracted a number of like-minded former villains to his Malibu estate. Their ranks include the likes of Man-Bull, The Saracen, El Aguila and The Porcupine, as well as The Wrecker from The Wrecking Crew.

Almost all of them have origins in comics that later became Netflix series. Man-Bull first appeared in Daredevil #78 (Gerry Conway, Gene Colan, Tom Palmer, and Sam Rosen) and was a regular foe of The Man Without Fear. Meanwhile, Saracen is a vampire foe of Blade, who was re-invented in Blade: Vampire Hunter #1 (Bart Sears, Ray Kryssing, Mark McNabb and Paul Tutrone). However, before then a figure called The Saracen was a foe of The Punisher, first appearing in The Punisher #22 (Mike Baron, Erik Larsen, Scott Williams, Gregory Wright and Ken Bruzenak). El Aguila also served as a foil and occasional partner for Luke Cage and Iron Fist, starting in Power Man and Iron Fist #58 (Mary Jo Duffy, Trevor von Eedon, Dan Green, George Roussos, Gaspar Saladino and Diana Albers.) Finally, the second Porcupine was the foe of Misty Knight and Colleen Wing -- both Luke Cage associates -- starting in Daughters of the Dragon #3 (Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gary, Khari Evans, Jimmy Palmiotti, Christina Strain and David Lanphear).

Their origins are less important than their purpose on the show, which -- in keeping with She-Hulk's spirit -- reveals them to be amiable goofballs with big hearts. They even help Jennifer break down a few walls and acknowledge some truths about her Hulk side. However, "The Retreat" could have done that with any Marvel D-listers. The selections here indicate a quiet jab at the gritty side of the MCU. In the process, it also hits back at some of She-Hulk's critics, who feels its breezy tone isn't in keeping with what a superhero story should be. Jennifer's new circle of friends are definitive proof to the contrary -- heroes aren't always as serious as they appear.

New episodes of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law stream every Thursday on Disney+.