How Madisynn with two Ns and one Y (but not where you think) stole our hearts – and why she deserves a comeback
Patty Guggenheim's ditzy party girl has stolen the whole show
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has given us several gifts: 1) the first-ever MCU superhero to frequently break the fourth wall; 2) it's shown us an even goofier, softer side to Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner; and 3) it brought us Madisynn with two Ns and one Y (but not where you think).
Madisynn King (played by Patty Guggenheim) entered our lives in episode 4 after she volunteered to participate in a magic trick and ultimately spoilt a very important episode of The Sopranos for Wong. It's arguably one of the greatest intros to any character we've seen in any Disney Plus series (though the scene in Hawkeye where Kate Bishop falls from the ceiling while Clint Barton is in the middle of convincing a room of bad guys that he doesn't know her is also pretty great). And we're not the only ones who agree: the party girl started trending on Twitter following episode 4's release and was given her own hashtag complete with a little Madisynn emoji.
It's the juxtaposition of Madisynn's eccentric, over-the-top personality with Wong's mild-mannered demeanor that makes for some of the show's strongest comedic bits. Wong, Earth-616's resident Sorcerer Supreme, made his MCU debut in Doctor Strange as the man with the plan who holds everything down. In She-Hulk, he shines as one of the funniest characters in the MCU – something that's further highlighted by his unlikely friendship with Madisynn, who doesn't regard Wong's inability to match her energy as a flaw. Instead, the two just...vibe.
The mid-credits scene in episode 4 is evidence of this, with Madisynn sans party girl attire seated next to Wong on the couch while they watch TV. When she asks him about all the alcoholic drinks he's ever tried, he mentions that the worst was gin and yak milk – the latter of which he still has leftover in the fridge. Her unexpected eagerness to try it, the casual delivery of, "Ooooh yeah, I wanna try some yak milk," is not only hilarious, but also tells us that the two may be pals for a long time. Plus, director Kat Coiro revealed that this scene was unscripted, with the pair simply riffing off of their amazing chemistry.
We're not sure where Patty Guggenheim has been all our lives, though according to her IMDb, the actor has been right in front of us the entire time. She's guest-starred on Modern Family and Mr. Mayor, and had a regular role as Erica on Florida Girls. Though we don't know much about her other than the fact that she lives in Chris Hemsworth's old Los Angeles apartment and still gets his mail.
"When I brought her up [for the She-Hulk role], nobody was familiar with her," Coiro told TVLine. "But then she came in and auditioned for us and everybody – Marvel executives, [including] Wendy Jacobson and Sean Earley, [head writer/EP] Jessica [Gao] – everyone watching that audition was actually crying with laughter. Tears streaming down their faces.”
With four more episodes to go, and no sign of her in episode 5, we're not sure if Madisynn will make a return. With She-Hulk's writers aiming for the show to be relatable – Jen going on dating apps, learning how to up her style, educating her male counterparts on what the average woman goes through – Madisynn felt not only relatable, but authentic. In the MCU, things are either taken too seriously or not seriously enough. She entered through a sorcerer's portal, ended up in Kamar Taj, thought it was cool, but wasn't really fazed by any of it. Can you imagine Madisynn meeting Dr. Stephen Strange, the man who takes everything way too seriously? She'd shrug him off, and we would no doubt thank her for it.
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She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is streaming on Disney Plus. Stay up to date with all things mean and green with our She-Hulk episode release schedule.
Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for 12DOVE currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.