When it comes to different takes of Spider-Man or Venom, we undoubtedly have seen this approach pop up regularly in comic history, with some adaptations making their spin here and there, either for story or merch reasons. Spider-Man Unlimited was one of the last few Fox Kids Marvel cartoons to air, and it was from the company's worst years due to the financial problems they faced; while the cartoon was a cult classic to many, it didn't last long and was seen more as a blip in the webhead's history. On the other hand, Agent Venom was as recent as nearly a decade and a half ago; he was a form that Flash Thompson took while looking into a way to get his legs back after losing them in the Iraq war. This later led to him becoming Agent Anti-Venom as well as Venom Space Knight. I feel like Agent Venom's probably the more popular choice given how much it fits the military tactics of Flash Thompson combined with how a fairly popular side character gets to have his unique spin on the symbiote. Let's see which of these two Legends figures deserves more love than the other!
Here we have Spider-Man Unlimited in-hand. Right off the bat, the figure doesn't have that dynamic shading that the series was known for, with black accents especially on the face to give it that gave the suit one of the artstyle's most defining traits. Would it have been difficult to pull off? Maybe, but I know an error would have been appreciative, with some feedback from fans to see how well it could look when it's in prototype stages. Hell, it needed more shading than the X-Men or Spider-Man VHS figures (though Venom turned out great). That being said, the sculpted details on this torso are appreciative, especially with how Hasbro just paints the costume details and call it a day. That being said, only the torso, butterfly joints, shoulders, and boots have those raised in relief. The ones within the inner sides of the thighs are unusually painted on, which makes the consistency questionable at best. The cape is a nice touch, though it could use a wash. I believe it is newly made.
His head sculpt has the correct lens shape, though they could be a little more yellow. Meanwhile, the lack of black around the center of the head makes it feel incomplete, especially with how that was the part where the shading popped the most on the suit. The articulation is the standard affair from the Sunfire mold, with a ball-and-hinged combo for the neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, wrist rotation with inward hinges, butterfly joints, an ab crunch plus waist swivel combo, ball-jointed hips, thigh rotation, double-jointed knees, boot rotation, and ankles that hinge and pivot. Whenever you're giving him either fists, open hands, or web shooters, the forearm pieces come off and are meant to be separate pieces from the rest of the forearms. It may be a strange choice to do, but at least the wrists aren't puny by comparison.
As for Agent Venom, this figure appears to be entirely new tooling. Sounds awesome, right? Not exactly. For one thing, the proportions of the figure are inappropriately lean; Flash Thompson's typical body-builder physique combined with the enhanced strength of the Venom symbiote should result in a bulkier look for the character. This is comparable to a cosplayer, which is something AnthonysCustoms would normally say. To its credit, the paint apps look fine, and are thankfully consistent and crisp, but maybe something could have been done to the black to make it less shiny than it currently is. It made sense for Venom and sometimes with Black Suit Spider-Man since they were normally meant to have that shiny black look to them given how the symbiote works. With Agent Venom, I'm positive the black could more matte to go with the military armor look? Or hell, add some texture to make the body appear less smooth where more details would have helped.
His head is a bit weird since the lenses are correctly inverted colors yet I'm positive they should be bigger instead of squinting? I get they wanted to distinguish this figure from the original Agent Venom from back in the mid-2010s, but it feels like a downgrade in terms of capturing the comic physique. And while articulation is the same for the most part, we have to talk about the torso. We have a diaphragm joint that works more like on RYV Spider-Man, but we get neither an ab crunch nor a waist swivel? The cut is right there for the figure's waist! ADD ONE, HASBRO!!!
In addition to the gun-holding hands and said guns with decent sculptwork yet no paint, he has a pair of open hands and a Flash Thompson head. I'm torn on how it looks since it feels more like a comic-style post-ROTJ Luke Skywalker than how Flash is usually depicted in the Agent Venom comic run. Either making his hair short or adding some stubble to his somewhat young face would have helped. That and he appears a little fresher than usual for someone who struggled from his exit of the Iraq war. Not only that, but the original figure had a tendrils that held it's figure's guns for some firepower while his fists punched any enemies in sight.
For a size comparison, here are our newest Spider-Man and Agent Venom surrounding Renew Your Vows. While the choice in torso articulation does make the Unlimited version less consistent with the more traditional combo we see Hasbro apply on most Spider-Men, I do think the rest of the figure turned out generally good if a bit of from the inconsistent red details being either raised in relief or painted as well as the lack of shading. Meanwhile, Agent Venom feels like a let down in terms of how much the proportions betray how Agent Venom usually appeared in the comics as well as how he would normally tower over Peter. You could use a shorter Spidey like the Animated Series version from Walmart, but even then, AV will still look like a more refined Titan Hero with those proportions. But to end on a more positive note, I recommend you go back to watch Glenn Webb's review on the Agent Venom that talked. RIP king.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Spider-Man Unlimited)
⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Agent Venom)
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