Who Is in The Abomination’s Therapy Group on SHE-HULK? Their Comic Origins, Explained

Spoiler Alert

She-Hulk’s seventh episode didn’t introduce Daredevil, nor did we get to see that elusive supersuit for our lovely gal. However, Jen did get a chance to reunite with two previous characters in an unexpected way. She-Hulk brought Emil Blonsky a.k.a. The Abomination back along with his wacky therapy group. We don’t know if they will factor into Jen’s impending fight against Intelligencia, but at least Jen has a crew of unexpected superfriends. Here are the comic book heroes that cameoed in She-Hulk‘s seventh episode and a brief history of their place in Marvel’s lore.

Who Is in The Abomination’s Therapy Group? 

Emil Blonsky Abomination therapy group members standing together outside
Marvel Studios

In the episode, Jen goes with Blonsky’s parole officer to the Summer Twilights ranch, where the now-reformed self-help guru resides. But, Jen ends up getting stuck there for several hours after a weird fight breaks out. We meet Man-Bull and El Aguila as they battle it out and inadvertently destroy Jen’s Prius. It turns out they are two of several superpowered people in Blonsky’s therapy group who have a love-hate relationship with each other. Why? Because Man-Bull is, well, a man who looks like a bull, and El Augila looks a lot like a matador.

Jen eventually meets the remainder of the heroic crew that comes together for healing. There’s Porcupine (a man dressed like a giant porcupine), Saracen (a daywalking vampire… or so he claims), and Wrecker, who Jen angrily recognizes from her previous run-in with the Wrecking Crew. In the end, all is well as the group helps her work through her frustration and pain over Josh (who is totally a bad guy…more on that later). They tell her that they like her as “Just Jen” and encourage her to like that part of herself too. So, she gets some needed respite and healing in the midst of things. 

Are the Abomination’s Therapy Group Members Villains in Marvel Comics?

She-Hulk sitting in a therapy circle with abomination group
Marvel Studios

Of course, viewers want to know if the characters who appear in the Abomination’s therapy group are in the Marvel Comics and if they are villains. And the short answer to that is yes. Let’s explore the history of these She-Hulk cameos.

Man-Bull in Marvel Comics
The Abomination Emil Blonsky Therapy Group Man-Bull from She-Hulk and Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

Man-Bull a.k.a. William Taurens, first appeared in 1971’s Daredevil #78, where he worked for Mr. Kline as a kidnapper to find people for some sort of evil experiment. Man-Bull ends up going through this same “treatment,” which made him a minotaur. In the comics, he went against Matador, but that’s not the case in She-Hulk

El Aguila in Marvel Comics
The Abomination Emil Blonsky Therapy Group El Aguila from She-Hulk and Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

El Aguila debuted in 1979’s Power Man and Iron Fist #58, so it’s obvious who he fought against. He has the ability to create bioelectric energy charges from his body, which we see him do with his sword in the show. How can you not love a man who is ready to fight for his new friend who got ghosted? El Aguila is a welcome part of The Abomination’s therapy group.

Porcupine in Marvel Comics
The Abomination Emil Blonsky Therapy Group Porcupine from She-Hulk and Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

Porcupine made his initial appearance in Tales to Astonish #48 (1963) as an Ant-Man and the Wasp villain. His real name was Alexander Gentry and he was a weapons designer for the United States army. Gentry set out to make a porcupine-based supersuit. But spurned by his employer, Gentry took his suit and turned to a life of crime, thus becoming Porcupine. His weird suit would let him shoot quills at his foes, so that’s a thing. In The Abomination’s therapy group, Porcupine prefers to keep their suit on, it just makes them feel safer.

Saracen in Marvel Comics
The Abomination Emil Blonsky Therapy Group Saracen from She-Hulk and Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

Meanwhile, Saracen is a Marvel vampire who is much newer to the universe, with his first appearance in Blade: Vampire Hunter #1 in 1999. It’s heavily implied that he only “thinks” he is a vamp, so he may not actually be one in the MCU. Of course, the MCU will soon be introducing vampires and other horror creatures to its world, so who knows? He is, however, a champion at being odd and a tad shady.

Wrecker in Marvel Comics
The Abomination Emil Blonsky Therapy Group Wrecker from She-Hulk and Marvel Comics
Marvel Studios/Marvel Comics

And, Wrecker is, of course, a part of the Wrecking Crew that we met earlier this season. This group of ground-level baddies cause a lot of trouble, but aren’t always as together as they ought to be. In the comics, Wrecker is an original member of the Wrecking Crew and their boss. But it looks like in She-Hulk, Wrecker answers to someone else whose identity is still unknown.

Interestingly, the show paints all these Marvel Comics villains as reformed and perhaps even decent beings who are now Jen’s friends. Each one of these comic book villains, or are they heroes now, has willingly come to the Abomination’s therapy group, after all. They just want to better themselves. We cross paths with Wrecker and Blonsky one last time in the season finale when Jennifer returns to Summer Twilights ranch after her life falls apart thanks to Intelligencia. While we discover that Blonsky is doing an “empowerment” event with Intelligencia strictly for cash (and maybe didn’t know what the group was about), he isn’t the actual villain here. Turning into Abomination is wrong but he did defend Jennifer. And it seems that Wrecker nor any of the other folks knew that he was still doing morally weird things.

Blonsky is off with Wong to other adventures now, so who knows what will happen with the ranch. Perhaps they will all stay there and continue to go through therapy together. Thankfully they weren’t villains in She-Hulk, but we know one person who was really terrible: Josh. 

What’s the Deal with Josh on She-Hulk

Jen and Josh from She-Hulk stand at her front door
Marvel Studios

The whole reason that the therapy crew is ready to ride or die over Jen is Josh. As we saw, they seemed like a match made in heaven. That is until they slept together and he ghosted her. We already knew Josh was potentially shady after seeing someone watching them at the end of episode six. But, we find out that Josh made a copy of Jen’s phone, took a picture of her sleeping naked in bed, AND apparently got a blood sample from her. Why? He’s a part of this Intelligencia collective and was sent to get that sample.

It turns out Josh was nothing more than a random pawn that Todd Phillips, also known as the HulkKing, used for salacious video and Jennifer’s blood. Josh never gets the comeuppance he deserves but at least Jennifer gets her life back and the chance to take down Todd. And, maybe one day, we will get an invite to Summer Twilights to hang out with a weird and loveable therapy group.

Originally published on September 29, 2022.

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