New Marvel Legends Figures For Secret Invasion, Hawkeye, WandaVision & More Are A Mixed Bag
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The action figures from Hasbro's Marvel Legends line deliver collectible toys from the pages of Marvel Comics and the many worlds of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With the ever-expanding roster of Disney+ TV shows, there are even more characters beyond The Avengers to fill up shelves, and the latest wave borrows from a variety of Marvel Studios shows, stretching back to "WandaVision," stopping by "Hawkeye," and coming up through the disappointing "Secret Invasion" and the yet-to-be-released second season of Marvel's "What If...?" animated series.
For better and worse, these new Marvel Legends figures are not unlike the very shows they're based on, in that they're a mixed bag of seeming cool, with some of them being rather disappointing. While all of the figures offer stellar likenesses of the actors who bring the various superheroes and villains to life in Marvel's shows, they're not always equipped with satisfying accessories or posable in dynamic ways to make them worth displaying. Meanwhile, some come with a couple of great new accessories that will hopefully become more common across the board in future releases. Hasbro sent the entire wave of these new Marvel Legends figures for us to check out, so let's take a closer look.
Secret Invasion
For "Secret Invasion," Marvel Legends has given us new figures of Nick Fury and Talos. Both have been given the Marvel Legends treatment before, but both of these characters have new looks, courtesy of the underwhelming Disney+ series that adapted the beloved Marvel Comics storyline.
Nick Fury is the standout figure here. Not only does it come with an outstanding likeness of Samuel L. Jackson as an aged Fury with an impressive beard, but the accessories that come with the figure are awesome. Aside from the removable hat, Fury comes with two pistols. But the best part are the accessories that make the guns look even cooler. Each gun has detachable translucent red muzzle blasts to make the gun appear as if it's firing, as well as a smoky gray wisps of smoke to make it look like the gun was shot just a moment ago. They make posing Fury much better than it otherwise might be, mostly because his wardrobe makes his display options a bit limited. Hopefully all future figures who come with guns like this will include those pieces too.
Ethan Anderton
Unfortunately, Talos got the short end of the stick here. While Marvel Legends deserves credit for giving us a great human likeness of Ben Mendelsohn this time, the character doesn't come with any accessories other than a swappable Skrull head and hands. He couldn't have at least one weapon? There had to be a way to make this figure at least a little bit more cool. While it's nice to have Talos to pair with Fury, it just feels like a bit of a letdown, kind of like having an action figure of your friend's father who works down at the Ford factory.
Hawkeye
Moving on to the more satisfying "Hawkeye" series, we've got two new figures to join the previously released Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) figures. One of them is entirely new while the other gives us a new version of a character who has already been turned into an action figure.
First, we have Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, the adoptive sister of Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow. In "Hawkeye," Yelena is pissed off at Clint Barton, because she believes that he's responsible for the death of Natasha. While she's technically not wrong, it's not as cut and dry as the information she's been given. Yelena is given a couple of fighting batons for her to engage in a fight with Hawkeye, as well as alternate hands for when she's not equipped for battle. The likeness of Pugh is great on the head sculpt, and the detail on her hair braids is particularly impressive. However, while the figure's body is quite posable, her smaller legs make it a little difficult to pose in a variety of ways without a figure stand.
Ethan Anderton
Meanwhile, Kingpin is a much beefier figure who doesn't come with a lot of posing options. Granted, the presence of Vincent D'Onofrio as the crime boss is meant to be more of an intimidating one who doesn't need to get into the action too much. But while the figure looks good standing with his cane in hand, it's a shame he's not a little more dynamic. Then again, it's not like Kingpin got to do all that much in the "Hawkeye" series, so it's all right if this figure doesn't have much versatility.
Marvel's What If...?
Admittedly, I haven't been very interested in the action figures inspired by Marvel's "What If...?" animated series. While the episodes of the series do offer interesting alternate takes on some characters, the figures are designed to resemble the artistic style of the animation rather than using the established live-action likeness as a jumping off point for a new figure. For example, Captain Carter (Hayley Atwell) has appeared in live-action form, by way of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," but the Marvel Legends figure is not made to look like a live-action version of the character.
The first new "What If...?" figure is a key character from the first season who will likely have a pivotal role as the series goes on. It's Warrior Gamora, decked out in the armor worn by Thanos in "Avengers: Infinity War" and "Avengers: Endgame," complete with the double-sided blade. While I do appreciate the less textured paint job and the stylized hair sculpt that replicates the animation style, I simply have a preference for the live-action versions of the characters. Unlike many of the female superheroes and villains in the Marvel Legends line, Gamora has slightly more sturdy legs for posing, but a figure stand will certainly help.
Ethan Anderton
As for the second figure, it's a character we've yet to see in action because they won't be appearing in the second season of "What If...?" that's yet to be released. That's Goliath, aka Blll Foster, played by Laurence Fishburne in "Ant-Man and The Wasp." The figure puts Foster into his own Ant-Man-style suit that uses the blue color scheme inspired by his Marvel Comics appearance, as well as a subtle G-shape on the buckle of the belt. Debuting in "Avengers #32," Goliath used Pym Particles to become a (literally) massive villain. But this figure is normal-sized, and he doesn't have any accessories at all, which is a real bummer. This is one of those instances where Hasbro needed a character that fans were forced to buy into order to complete the Build-a-Figure spread across the new wave. Even though the suit looks cool, it would have been nice to at least have an unmasked head.
It was Agatha all along
Reaching all the way back to "WandaVision," we've got the first proper action figure of Kathryn Hahn as Agatha Harkness. I'll be the first to admit that this figure is, at first, disappointingly basic. Agatha is limited in her how she can be posed due to the rubber robes she's adorned with. The movement of her arms and legs is extremely limited, and it feels like the robes are required to make her upright without the use of a figure stand.
Ethan Anderton
But at the same time, the figure just looks outstanding, complete with a mischievous grin on the fantastic sculpt of Kathryn Hahn's face. Perhaps the real downside is the lack of some kind of accessory that visualizes her magic. Even including the Darkhold would have been a nice touch. But this is a rare instance where those missing elements haven't ruined the figure for me.
The new Hydra Stomper build-a-figure
That brings us to the latest Build-a-Figure from Marvel Legends. With the exception of Kingpin, all of the above figures come with a piece of the new Hydra Stomper figure from the second season of the "What If...?" animated series. Previously, the original version of the Hydra Stomper armor worn by a non-Captain America version of Steve Rogers was released as its own deluxe figure. But now, the more sleek, modern armor, including the animated head of a bearded Steve Rogers, can be pieced together as a Build-a-Figure.
Ethan Anderton
This version of the Hydra Stomper looks like a more polished version of the Iron Monger armor from the first "Iron Man" movie. There are a few red accents here and there, including on the jetpack that can be affixed to the back of the figure. Otherwise, there are two swappable hands, and you can switch between the animated Steve Rogers head or the Hydra Stomper helmet. Though limited in poses, this is a beefy figure with some heft to it, and the shine on the armor looks fantastic. If I was more into the animated side of the MCU, then I'd probably appreciate it more. But as it stands, it's the live-action MCU figures that are the most appealing to me.
Ethan Anderton
Here are links to all of the new Disney+ Marvel Legends figures, now available for shipping:
- "Secret Invasion" – Nick Fury – Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "Secret Invasion" – Talos - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "Hawkeye" – Yelena Belova - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "Hawkeye" – Kingpin - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "What If...?" – Warrior Gamora - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "What If...?" – Goliath - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse
- "WandaVision" – Agatha Harkness - Amazon / Hasbro Pulse