Scourge, like Cottonmouth, was a bit of a surprise inclusion in this wave. Scourge is a bit of an odd character to be on Hasbro’s radar for inclusion in a wave, but it makes sense thematically and also utilizes a ready-made body.
Scourge is a character that has been around a while and seems to be different each time he pops up. And I mean that literally, because he looks different and is a different person under the mask each time. Initially a villain-killer who mowed down a ton of bad guys in the ’80s, his most recent incarnation, depicted here, is actually one-time lovable loser Dennis Dunphy, also known as Demolition Man, or D-man.
I haven’t read the particular Brubaker run of Captain America where this version of Scourge shows up, but apparently D-man was brainwashed by Henry Peter Gyrich who himself was under the influence of Hydra. Again a villain-killer, he was apparently taken down by Captain America. And then D-man died, came back to life, and is now doing some odd jobs for the Avengers.
Comics, amirite?
Regardless of the insane background behind both Scourge and D-man, the figure itself is very well done. I hadn’t messed around with the Electro body before, so this is my first exposure to it. It poses and plays very nicely, and to me definitely works better for a tactical mercenary like Scourge than it ever would anybody wearing the name “Electro.” The paint job is obviously different, with some silvers here and there that coincide with the comic book look for Scourge and a bit of white patterning on the torso. It’s not a perfect translation since it’s not a body sculpted for Scourge, but it still works very well.
Scourge has a brand new head that keeps the overall motif of the past Scourge heads and updates it into an angry-looking skullish metal mask that looks mean and angry.
The best thing about this figure is that there’s enough of a generic quality to it that if you don’t care for it to specifically be “Scourge,” a handful of them would make excellent grunts in service of one of the major bad guys. A team of them would look completely intimidating.
The newly sculpted bits all serve to bring him as close as possible to the Scourge on the page. My problem with Taskmaster — sculpted guns/holsters — is gone here, as he has a working holster for both a knife and a gun. Huzzah. There’s a bit of an oddity going on here as the gun is on the side with no trigger finger, and the knife is on the trigger finger side but that hand can’t really hold a knife at all, so apparently Scourge got dressed on the wrong side of the bed.
He also comes with a shotgun that he can hold very convincingly and looks quite badass doing so. There’s a very cinematic quality to the figure, like he was actually designed to be in a Captain America movie. While having my heroes and villains be overly tactical-looking isn’t something I want in my comic books, occasionally it just works and here it does work.
His three weapons are all a brownish color and not basic black, so that might bug those of you who would be wondering why he wouldn’t coordinate his weapons with his outfit. But I’m sure his purse and shoes match, so I think that evens it out. I like a bit of flair in my deadly mercenaries and the color helps break up all the silver and black, so I don’t mind the colorful weapons, but that’s just me. These same weapons have shown up plenty of times in black, so I’m sure you can sub in some black guns if that’s your preference.
Scourge was an unexpected figure but bookends Taskmaster very nicely in the wave and adds yet another unique character to the line. Now let’s get D-Man himself in all his colorful glory into a wave somewhere and everything will be right with the world.
Scourge is available as part of the red Onslaught Series at Big Bad Toy Store here or here