Marvel Select Venom review

Beginning life as a black ooze that covered Spider-Man's costume in the original run of Secret Wars, this symbiote began to take control of Peter Parker, forcing the man to abandon it at all costs. The symbiote merged with Eddie Brock, and combining the hatred for Spider-Man and Peter Parker's memories meant a monster was born, that being the darker twist of the web-slinger named Venom! Several symbiotes were spawned from Venom (notably Carnage), new hosts joined the Venom symbiote (notably Mac Gargan and Flash Thompson), and some retcons came out of nowhere (notably Venom once being used by Deadpool before the Secret Wars), but when the term "nothing beats the original" is appropriate, it works well with Eddie Brock and the original Venom design. That said, Toy Biz didn't quite make the character Justice in their lines, with them having proportions that aren't quite right, and faces have either teeth that need braces or eyes that look too small. Then there's the joint tightness of the ToyBiz figures lacking the strength they need if they're used after 5 minutes of play. Hasbro's attempts are better in the Legends line, but they're so close to being good if it weren't for Diamond Select's take on the character. Let's see how Marvel Select Venom turns out!

Here we have Venom in his classic glory. The figure has the classic McFarlane look to him with the appearance of a much more monstrous Spider-Man that would cast a shadow over Peter Parker not in terms of being better than him, but by being more of a threat. The proportions of Venom do vary from appearances, and while Venom does look a bit skinner than the art, he does at least have more mass than Spider-Man would. The sculpting on Marvel Selects is generally the kind that makes you feel like it's made from a different material than plastic, yet Venom manages to look a lot more professionally done in terms of paint, and I like how the chest symbol and the dry brushing on the body look well applied.

The first face sculpt looks really nice, even if some of the teeth could use a bit more paint. Just everything about the head captures the classic Venom look that a majority of previous Venom figures could take notes from. The grin captures both being intimidating while having a bit of intelligence in this expression, as I tend to see him as somewhat comparable to DC's Bane (well, aside from the fact that Tom Hardy played both characters in The Dark Knight Rises and Venom).

The articulation is fairly good for a Select, and while this was made before Selects had comparable articulation to what the Legends line has, it's more poseable than the older Select models made before this Venom figure. There's a ball joint at the neck for a good amount of movement looking side to side as well as up and down. The arms swivel front and back at the shoulder and hinge in and out; they swivel at the bicep, bend at the elbow, and the wrists rotate. There is a diaphragm joint that is a bit limited, but the figure has a waist swivel that works well. The hips move front and back as well as in and out on a T-joint; if you recall the Superman review, I mentioned that the T-joint hips look awkward on a modern 6-inch figure, but I will defend it here because it's a figure that prioritized sculpt more than articulation (which Selects had as a priority for a while). There is a swivel above the knee, a bend at the knee, and ankle hinges only. 

For his accessories, he has an alternate head that shows him with his snake-like tongue out. I love how wicket it looks, though on my copy it's not able to be removed, which was something that earlier copies have had. Not a big loss for me since I prefer Venom figures that either have the grin or the tongue out. You can also swap the hands out from another accessory we will take a look at. These hands are more relaxed/claw-like before than the fists.

Another group of accessories include add-ons for a Madness appearance from when he lost in a battle with the Juggernaut and had more heads grown out from him after falling in a chemical vat. He has a back piece that features more heads that can articulate a bit, and that back piece also has arms that can articulate as well. There is another pair of hands that can be swapped, with a more claw-like sharpness than the previous hands, which are now on the arms that come with the heads. To top it all off, he also has a pair of smaller arms that tab into the holes of the forearms. They can add for an illusion that Venom has 8 limbs.

You can have the grinning face on if you want, which matches the heads that are on the backpiece. They also have some nice sculpting and paint added on them, and the fact that they're articulated slightly makes them even better! If I'm honest, that wouldn't be a thing Hasbro wouldn't do as well, given how their Marvel Legends 8 armed Spider-Man has no paint on the suit to give off the impression of webbing. The back has the symbol painted as well, and there are little Venom heads that don't move but are emerging from the symbiotic skin. They may not be prominently present, but at least they're nicely painted.

Venom also has an alternate half-face of Eddie Brock's head somewhat covered by the symbiote. It's a decent likeness to the character yet it does look a bit younger than he looked in the older comic run. It almost reminds me of Topher Grace when he played Venom in Spider-Man 3.

There has been a Disney store reuse of the mold last year to somewhat tie-in with the Venom movie. It had some new faces and (not pictured here) symbiotic tentacles that would make the body look more alien than it is normally. The new faces I'm not a big fan of, as two of them do the same thing with having the tongues sticking out and jaws with underbites while the normal closed mouth head makes Venom look like he's got that look too. They look goofier than the classic faces of the character IMO.

Overall, Marvel Select Venom makes for an amazing figure to own! The sculpting and paintwork make this figure stand out from the expectations of how people see action figures. Sure, the articulation could have worked better, but I'm happy with the end result of this figure, especially when he has the right look that a Venom figure should have. I kind of wish there is a version of the character more based on his appearance in the 2018 movie, but Hasbro and Diamond Select are sadly limited by the rules Marvel Entertainment and Disney are forcing onto companies to never tie in with the merchandise not directly tied in with the MCU. That's why both companies can make comic figures but not figures based on Fox and Sony's movies. It explains one of the reasons why a figure of Mystique from Days of Future Past can't be made. So in return, let's have Venom play with a Spider-Man that won't be feeling good at any moment.

To sum up, Marvel Select Venom beats his previous releases and will make his Legends releases have quite the competition.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐