Written by Dan Hickman • Toy Editor
Hasbro continues to impress in the Marvel Legends line with this release of the movie version of Venom.
The Venom origin in the comics and in the movie are slightly different as in the comics. Spider-Man unwittingly brings the Venom symbiote back to Earth during the Secret Wars storyline. In the movie, on which this figure is based, the symbiote is brought back to Earth by a research company.
The symbiote manages to escape captivity and as in the comic books encounters Eddie Brock, a broken man who has lost his job, his credibility, pretty much everything. The pair end up bonding together and form the anti-hero Venom. The movie was inspired partly by the Venom: Lethal Protector miniseries and the “Planet of the Symbiotes” storyline.
Venom is absolutely wicked! He comes with two pairs of hands, one fisted, one grasping, two different heads, one with the long prehensile tongue and the other with a malevolent grin. Though Venom is part of the Venompool Build A Figure wave, he has no BAF parts packed with him. I’m very pleased with the extra hands and head though.
Venom definitely looks sick! He’s molded in black plastic with tons of sculpted details. The white highlights are brighter on the arms than on his shoulders but are very well done and really match the film version well. The white paint for his eyes on both head sculpts is vibrant and doesn’t suffer from any of the transparency issues typically associated with Marvel Legend paintovers.
His teeth are sculpted beautifully and are amazingly detailed, right down to the reddish pink gums. Of exceptional appearance, the long curling tongue really gives the figure a McFarlanesque look and does justice to both the movie and comic book counterparts. Venom stands about 7.5 inches in height. Overall,this Venom figure looks incredible and I’m really excited to have added him to my collection.
New Marvel Legends Venom Figure is Wicked
Venom’s articulation is very well done. The only real issue I have is with his head movement. He’s on a double ball peg, but the lower, larger peg is buried in the neck/torso which means the smaller head peg restricts movement up and down. Venom’s head will turn side to side nicely, but you will be limited in wall crawling poses as he just cannot look up far at all.
His shoulders rotate 360 and raise out to better than 90 degrees at his side. The elbows are double jointed and bend in exceptional well, both wrists hinge and swivel.
His torso is excellent, featuring both a highly moveable upper diaphragm with properly sculpted upper abs that follow the length of the figure when you bend him backward. The upper hinge also pivots nicely and tilts side to side. He has a lower abdomen crunch which enables him to really get into some nice crouching poses.
Venom does not have a waist swivel, but that’s ok for this figure design. Both legs split out quite far, kick forward and feature upper thigh cuts, double jointed knees with admirable range of motion and ankles that hinge up and down nicely and have very good rocker action.
Though I’ve not seen the movie, this Venom figure really is terrific. I love having him posed with my other Venom figures on the Spider-Man shelf and at the price point of about $25 is easily worth 4.5 Toyboxes out of 5. If you’re a fan of the character, this is a must have addition to your collection! Thanks for hanging out and be sure to check back for our next review in a couple of days! Until then… Geek Out!!!