Here we have Deadpool in hand. This figure is a retool of the figure we got based on the first two movies, only this time in a more saturated costume meant to evoke the 90s design he was known for...in theory. It still shares the same design traits as a modern superhero costume, with lines and broken-up detailing to convey realism while trying to maintain a comic book lens. In the case of Deadpool, I'm not sure if I would call this MCUfication since he was a Fox Marvel character initially. Still, it works in his favor given his role as a mercenary requiring more tactile gear than traditional spandex. I would hardly call this an upgrade from the original version, but that's mostly because it does a similar design to what we had before, only brighter and with altered details here and there to match his comic look. The gold accents are a nice touch, but the belt pouches look unfinished in terms of having any paint detailing to make them less cheap. I also feel like the red plastic has a bit of a cheaper feel to it, though nothing to the extent of a knockoff. It's just one of those things I feel could have been done better either with a wash or perhaps painting the figure red. Sometimes, it's all about how opaque the plastic can be, but this figure pales in comparison to his review mate as we'll get to. Overall, the aesthetics are generally the same, though I feel like the arms are slightly shorter than normal this time. Almost like they're nearly done growing back from being cut off if we know his regenerative ability. We still have the same harness with the katana sheaths, we still have the logo buckle, and we still have the right leg with its knife stowed away. Same movie Deadpool, but slightly tweaked. Also, I have to say I am not a fan of how weird the wrists look with how skinny they are between the cuff of the suit and the rest of the hand. It wasn't an issue the old figure had, and hiding it with said cuffs does raise an issue of losing those parts since they're not glued in place.
The head sculpt is more or less similar to what we've seen before, though tweaked to better match the comic styles by a smidge. It's not super noticeable, but the shape of the black spots is different from what we've seen. I am annoyed that the left eye is misaligned slightly up close. The articulation is the same as with the original Deadpool figure we got in 2020, with a ball peg and washer joint combo at the neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, and wrist hinges moving in and out. There is a butterfly joint, a waist swivel hindered by the belt, and an ab crunch less hindered by comparison (though the top part of the harness isn't glued in place. The hips are on ball joints, the thighs swivel, the knees are double-jointed, and the ankles can hinge and pivot. The katanas are a treat as always, though I am worried about snapping them off given how that happened to a bootleg Lego version of movie Deadpool I once got. It hasn't happened to the 2020 version of Legends movie Deadpool, however. The blades and knives have silver paint, though I am concerned about those chipping off given how tight the sheathes are.
The guns are thankfully removable this time around, which was an issue I had with the original version where they have both guns that were glued in their holsters and guns that come separately. That is the stupidest thing you could do for Marvel Legends accessories, and not only did I forget about that being a thing, but I almost damaged one of the holstered guns in my old Deadpool, believing the materials somewhat melted and fused into the holster from age! Speaking of, here is the new with the old. I don't really get the real hype over Deadpool's costume being better in the newer movie versus what he previously had considering how it's more like a slight deviation from what we previously had. Granted, it makes sense with this being Deadpool's way of stepping back in the spotlight to save his world from being wiped out, but I feel like it's the kind of slight variation of an existing costume that is noticeable but not super neither better nor worse than what we got before, such as the transition from the 1989 Batman suit to the Returns suit or the tweaks of the costume from the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy had in the first movie compared to 2 and 3 (even if I prefer the sequel costumes more for Batman and Spider-Man). If you have the original Deadpool or the Legacy reissue, maybe this new one isn't worth getting. I say that because, in addition to not being that big of a deviation from what we got before, the figure has fewer accessories in addition to looking a bit cheaper with the shade of red versus the darker blood red on the old costume. I also wish Deadpool came with gold-painted guns if we're never getting a Nicepool and an alternate unmasked head after past attempts failed us. Is it really hard to get Ryan Reynolds' likeness rights in action figure form? He's wearing scrotum-textured makeup, I'm sure that's easier to work with than having a normal face of his. Also sucks since Hasbro tends to waste that actor likeness tech on a lot of recent MCU Legends nobody cares about but THE Deadpool himself gets nothing.
Up next, we have Wolverine in his yellow costume, something that undoubtedly has fans busting a nut after shitting on the lack of comic-accurate costumes in the old Fox movies despite the context behind those suits AND the way movies were made at the time. They tried going for that darker tone to contrast the toyetic Batman & Robin after CBMs were viewed as cheap and lame. Spawn tried to delve into a darker tone, yet it ended up feeling more in line with older CBMs compared to the style Blade introduced. Hence why X-Men had more in common with the style Blade went with versus the campy AF Batman & Robin and the ambitious-yet-weirdly-held-back Spawn. While our main Hugh Jackman Wolverine has been either in black leather or casual clothes that still befit the character overall, this variant is a loser who let the X-Men die after rejecting them. The costume design looks cool, though the figure we end up with sucks. Firstly, the proportions are unfitting for Hugh Jackman. Even at his age, he's relatively jacked and remained as such when returning for the role. Why are his arms so thin and his torso not broad enough and tapered in a slight V-shape to showcase his superhero proportions? It's already bad enough he has a slight dad bod of sorts, but the hips sticking out slightly to disrupt the natural flow of his body looks pretty unnatural. And to top it all off, he feels even cheaper than Deadpool, with the yellow plastic easy to shine a flashlight through just to showcase how thin he feels. A wash would have gone a long way, especially with how dirty and busted up the costume is in the movie.
His head sculpt looks pretty accurate to the movie, though the lack of a wash just ends up making the yellow area of the mask look more like basketball texture. Come to think of it, these suits really utilize all that texturing to make them more detailed, though I swear some of the promo shots had them smooth and more plated by comparison. Could be my imagination. I also wish the facial hair could be darker since it ends up not matching the alternate head as we'll get to in terms of coloring. Articulation is mostly the same as Deadpool's, though with one oddity and one glaring flaw. The former has to do with how long each knee joint is compared to Deadpool's resulting in a fairly unnatural look that comes from preserving the sculpt of the kneepads. The latter, on the other hand, is guaranteed to piss off anyone who's already unhappy with this scalped AF toy. The shoulders barely move up thanks to the pads not only attached in a way that inhibits outward movement but also from being static pieces instead of moving out of the way like with prior Wolvies with shoulder pads. I thought the Blade figure from the Mindless One wave was bad, but this is even worse considering how there were other solutions while preserving the sculpture. Hasbro tried to apply washers into the shoulders a la McFarlane figure, but they barely even wiggle around for better range. For all the complaints people bitch about with McFarlane, I'm amazed this is usually slept on with this Wolverine!
He has an unmasked head that I arguably prefer more, even if it isn't entirely accurate to the movie. He looks a little younger and doesn't exactly match how he appeared, though it may be from the expression that says "I'm really not the best there is at what I do as this figure, am I?". He comes with alternate clawless hands, though I'm sure it would have been possible for Hasbro to integrate sleeveless arms since they were shown in the movie halfway through while also making the price easier to stomach considering his part count being slightly lower than Deadpool's. It would have justified those washer joints even with the crappy range the sleeved arms would still have. Anyways, here he is with his old Fox continuity counterpart years before he died and rotted into an adamantium skeleton for Deadpool do dismantle during a battle against the TVA while Bye Bye Bye from N-Sync plays. I'm going to be honest and say that I wasn't clapping when I saw the yellow costume since I always felt Hugh Jackman's Wolverine could still be recognizable even in casual clothing. Hell, if he was buck naked for an entire movie, it's easy to recognize him thanks to Hugh Jackman's portrayal these past two decades and a half, That and the adamantium claws unmistakably belonging to him. Sure, the suit's neat for anyone who's still going to say "huurrrr why Fox no make costume yellow like banana skull emoji" but I don't get why the scalping is justified not just for the shitty practice alone but for how mid the figure itself is. I'm still waiting for a black costume version based on the X2 figure, and I doubt Hasbro would give us that. As it stands, the Wolverine we got back in 2020 is still my favorite when it comes to Hugh's portrayal specifically; it is not only an original sculpt made for a character who hasn't had movie-related merch since 2013's Marvel Select based on his second solo movie from that same year or his Days of Future Past figure made by Hot Toys, but it has more effort in terms of deco and proportions that most MCU figures wouldn't compare, even today. I also like the Wife Beater version that was reissued last year, and I'm especially happy with the Logan version (yeah, Hasbro made one based on the 2017 movie while Hot Toys hasn't). I'm just baffled at how this figure got hard to preorder considering that the figure itself is just mid. People should really buy toys not for the hype but for the quality they possess. And while the movie does deserve its hype for the most part, this figure is anything but.
Overall, I'm not too impressed with either of these figures. While I'm sure S.H.Figuarts, Diamond Select, or whatever non-Hasbro company will do better, I'm not convinced I should get those offerings since I'm happier with the prior versions of these characters we had in 2020. Sure, Logan may not be "comic-accurate", but Hugh Jackman is already enough of a sell to keep me content if he wasn't in his costume. Deadpool, meanwhile, was already fine enough in the 2020 version that this ends up feeling more like a "this is neat but not a slam dunk replacement". Plenty of missed opportunities and cut corners put these two at a lower-than-normal grade, and I forgot to mention the slight paint chipping out of the box. I doubt we'll get the other cast members in the movie since outside of Charlie Cox Daredevil's triumphant return along with the TASM duology villains, we're likely going to get more main MCU movie characters that will range from hard-to-find or warming pegs.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for Deadpool)
⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for Wolverine)
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