Another Marvel Legends 2-pack to go over, this time covering a more recent event in the form of the King in Black story-arc. In it, various Marvel heroes go against Knull and his symbiotic army, with Venom being the centerpiece of the story with all of the Venomized characters being corrupted during the invasion. Obviously meant to tie-in with Let There Be Carnage before the release date was pushed back due to the COVID pandemic, that explains all of that Venomized merch in 2020 before we got the proper story as well as the movie. It was a mostly solid story that wasn't as bad as most of Marvel's other stories of late (New Warriors, anyone?), but how do the toys associated with the story fare?
Let's cover Venom first...and right off the bat, he looks vaguely familiar if you collected Legends figures in the past. This is a reuse of the Movie version of Venom made back in 2020 as the intended tie-in to the sequel as mentioned before, and while some would find the more detailed look of the character a little distracting, I think that the simplistic, blank nature of Venom's design makes it easier to justify, and the chest/back logo, as well as the paint for the hands and the new head, make for a good difference that makes sense compared to, say, those classic repaints of the DCEU trinity done by Beast Kingdom. What he still retains are the same feet from the Movie version, which is unusual to many fans who are used to the non-toed feet, but some artists give him toes anyhow. I'm debating on whether or not I should mod the feet. New to this guy are peg holes for the wings, which we'll get to. The back logo does have some paint-chipping, though...
Head sculpt is new for the guy as mentioned before, and is painted on generally well with a few nicks here and there, but it does look more like a modernized take on the classic look (duh), that goes well for Venom without him trying to copy the exact appearance from the movies. The teeth could look a little more defined, though. His articulation consists of two ball joints for the neck, shoulders that move front and back, in and out, bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, a diaphragm joint, an ab-crunch, hips that move front and back, in and out, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, and ankle hinges as well as side-to-side pivots. Replacing the head and fists are an alternate head with his tongue sticking out and open hands, perfect for more dynamic poses.
One of the highlights of this version of Venom is the inclusion of a pair of MASSIVE wings. Like they take up a shitton of space when they're added onto his back, but getting them on the back is not easy. Either the pegs are not made to be pegged in right, or the holes are not made properly. But I will at least say that when attached, they look badass...even if you can only hinge them back and forth rather than fold them away or have them hinge up and down because of the way they attach.
For a comparison, here he is between the Venom he is reused from as well as my Marvel Select Venom, which I got back in March 2018 on my birthday! I still like the Select Venom in spite of his limited articulation, as his sculpt is unique and better captures the McFarlane look that I like the most from Venom. The KiB version is better in terms of articulation and doesn't annoy me with the alternate head-swapping, but he could use a paint wash like the Select. The movie version has been reused for this specific version of Venom, though I feel like parts of him are also retooled or replaced with proportions to better fit the comic version, I can also notice how small the Movie head looks next to the comic version. I feel like that especially rings true for the torso, legs, and lower torso region.
And just to confirm it, the KiB version of Venom only has the retooled peg holes, which were not present on the Movie version.
And now, we have Knull himself.. A wholly new sculpt, Knull being included with the more iconic Marvel anti-hero makes sense, as I doubt casuals would want to get him on his own, so including him with a more popular character would make for a somewhat pricey yet still great way of getting a good Venom toy and another character for fans to be introduced to. I don't think Knull would reach the same level of popularity in general that his packmate has, but I value that the sculpt is well-designed and has a few good paint apps to break up the drab coloring of the armor, from the bands fitting in with the arms to the blood red symbiote emblem with a unique tail to boot. He does feel like the antagonist of a JRPG or fantasy game, but he does at least have that logo to make himself somewhat familiar in the Marvel universe. And being a new mold means that unlike Venom, Knull has pinless joints.
Headsculpt looks appropriately old and alien, almost reminding me of a Star Wars villain serving the Separatists. The piercing red eyes stand out from the ashy gray of the face and hair; he could use a bit of a wash to make the facial details pop a little more, but it does the job nonetheless. His articulation is about the same as Venom's, though his right-hand hinges up and down rather than in and out because it is meant for his sword. Said sword is ironically named "All-Black", which is false-advertising because of the red symbiote tendrils wrapped around it. Some of them should also be painted red, though, since it had a lot redder than it currently has. He has no alternate hands, but he does have an alternate head that has him flashing his teeth.
Overall, this is another good 2-pack that may not be as popular as the Renew Your Vows set, but I feel does a similar job in getting fans a fairly definitive version of the main character (though Venom might not be as definitive as Spidey is) while also including a lesser-known but still cool packmate. Knull is awesome and deserves some love, even if you're not getting the set for him. I know people would want to get the 3-pack that features a different Venom as well as Riot and Agony, but this one will still do nonetheless.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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