It certainly feels like we’re a long way from home lately….
Mezco solicited their second Cinematic Spiderman figure back last Spring/Summer, possibly before I saw the movie. Other than feeling like a lifetime ago, the other thing that sticks out to me was how slick that suit looked in black and red. Other than the suit, it was pretty clear that this was a revisit of the already released (and very nice) Homecoming suited figure that I reviewed last year, so you’d be forgiven for not jumping all over this preorder when it came up. And of course, the Far From Home suit we all were really hoping for, the Night Monkey, was solicited this past Winter, so that kind of puts this guy kinda surplus to requirements.
Still, if you like the original version, then there’s nothing wrong with a second round. The base body is really an ideal size and poseability for a good Spidey. I’m going to gloss over the details, since really, I’ve reviewed this base body at least two other times. He’s lithe, has great range, and scales well with the existing movie figures as well as the comic ones, depending on your preference. The hip and abdominal range in particular actually feel like an improvement over the original, even. He comes with the same assortment of hands- fists, climbing, holding and web-shooting, as well as the same three masked head options.
In fact, with the narrow-eyed version on, he reminds me of the Toybiz Classics version, the one that shipped with a repro of Amazing Fantasy. It’s kind of a Ditko viewed through a modern filter or something.
The suit is deceptively different than the initial one, with a more streamlined belt and some very different texturing.
The design and material is similar to that of Spec Ops Punisher, but it’s very easy to work with, and I haven’t really had any concerns. The designs in the black parts appear to be pretty close to the movie, and the spider logos and overall colors nailed it.
Honestly, the figure has me appreciating the costume a lot more than I did before I got it…
There are some new elements added to his loadout as well. The biggest is going to be the Tom Holland unmasked head. It looks to be very close to the one packed with the Homemade suit, though the skin tone and hair color are a bit different. The jawline looks slightly changed as well, but that could be just me. This head also includes the EDITH glasses, and they are done really well. They don’t peg in or anything, but they do hold on fairly well to his face, even if I don’t trust them to stay there.
He also gets a couple new web effects, like a wide flexible “catching web” that somehow I forgot in the box. I did, however, find and put that face-webbing effect to quick use. Hasbro has done a few of these recently as well, and I hope both companies keep adding in parts like this- they are a ton of fun to play with and photo. And, as you’d expect, he has the usual web effects that all three previous spideys came with.
Really, I didn’t expect to enjoy this version on it’s own merits as much as I have. I basically came for the colors, stayed for the execution. If you didn’t pick up either of the previous MCU Spideys, this one can easily fill that gap, and even as just another standalone variant, he’s visually striking enough to warrant a spot on the shelf. But really, he ought to be the one you keep out to play around with.
