If you've seen my podcast, you might remember I shared my thoughts on the Venom movie along with the boys to make up for a lack of a 2020 release for the sequel. It's not a perfect CBM and I wouldn't really put it up there as my favorite or one of my favorites, but it's way better than people say it is, and even if there are things that make it feel like a crowd-pleaser, I'll always appreciate having a crowd of people in the theater enjoying the movie alongside me, my dad, and my younger brother without any nerds bitching about comic accuracy or the lack of Spider-Man. Certainly a more worthwhile experience than the garbo that was Josstice. But after 2 years of hoping Hasbro would make a Marvel Legends version of Venom, I'm happy to say that he doesn't disappoint!
Here is Venom in-hand, and right off the bat, I have to commend Hasbro for making the proportions match how he looked on-screen to the best of their ability. While it is hard to exactly determine how his physic is supposed to look given how we usually see Venom in darker areas (not to say that there aren't scenes where his body is more visible), but this is a very lovely in-hand look at how his body does look, albeit with the added discrepancies of articulation. There's no real significant deco on him aside from the veiny lines on him, which is part of the character design instead of the normal symbiote chest emblem. While he does look a bit naked without it, I'd like to see it applied to him if it looks more like an organic aspect of him rather than a symbol that looks man-made in-universe. One notable aspect of the figure are the feet; they're given some pretty nasty toenails that weirdly look fine in black. Probably because it's not as disgusting.
Head sculpt is undeniably Venom, and the teeth, gums, and eyes are pretty well painted on my copy. It also captures the same, slimy black feel to the character design in the film. As for the articulation, it's the same as with the Spider-Man figure I covered yesterday, albeit without the butterfly joints as well and drop-down hips. He also has alternate hands and a head with an open mouth revealing the signature tongue.
Here he is next to the Marvel Select Venom. While he is shorter than him, he has more articulation and doesn't have much of an issue switching heads like with the Marvel Select version. Either way, I have the best comic book Venom and the best movie Venom in my collection, and neither will replace the other. In fact, they can be on the same shelf and share their toothy grins.
Because I like to shit on the MCU version of Spider-Man, here he is being strangled by Venom. He's webbed up because his web-shooters backfired.
For a more convincing size comparison, here he is with the Spider-Man he should definitely fight against. This is from the 2014 Infinite Series Hob-Goblin wave of TASM2 figures, which also had Superior Spider-Man, a traditional Black Cat, Ultimate Beetle, Boomerang, Carnage, Toxin, Spider-Girl, and TASM2 Electro. You can also tell how Hasbro changed the way they did Movie figures, with Spider-Man's joints being a little more distracting as seen with the butterfly joints and the gaps on the hips; Venom doesn't have the former joints, but the latter's hip gaps is less noticeable. Despite the difference in height being a lot more noticeable here than with Hasbro using Pizza Spidey next to Venom using the Hyperion body, I think it works well here since Venom was a pretty big guy and would likely look down on the web-slinger. However, Venom can't just strangle him right away because of how competent TASM Spidey is compared to Lolland. As for Venom himself, he's a great figure to own, and while the accessories he comes with are a little lacking, he at least makes up for it with a good sculpt, no deco issues, and shows Hasbro has a bit more freedom with making figures based on movie characters not from the MCU. May we get a Carnage or a Riot!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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