Wow, so much great stuff today! I'm now planning on buying everything except Extreme Wolverine, Outback Prof x and Lizard.
Gen X Husk is the star for me. I'm already expecting her to be my favorite figure of 2025! Marrow, Fabian Cortez, Spider-Boy and female Electro are the other ones that I'm most psyched for.
Across the entire ML landscape, those of us that love the classic golden, silver and bronze age looks, otherwise known as everything pre-1990s are gonna have to wait until Dan and Ryan have moved onto other Hasbro IPs or "get sniped for management" as Dwight said a few years ago and Jesse is pre-occupied with other things. Then hopefully they will bring in newer people that embrace the entirety of Marvel - from the 1930s onwards.
The thought that any new person or team would care more about OLDER stuff than this current team is a reach. And as another poster pointed out, they gave pre-90s a TON of new figures this year - way more than the MCU got!
I think I say this every year, but I just genuinely enjoy watching these streams - especially the end of year ones with a ton of reveals and the draft. The team have a good energy and seem genuinely happy to be there, and strike a good balance between a polished production and a few rough edges. Dan pre-confirming things that Ryan seemed a little genuinely annoyed by, or the team being real fans but not getting all the trivia right (Ryan mixing up Elixir as a Guthrie sibling, for example) - it's something I've come to really enjoy even beyond all the new stuff that gets shown off.
DITTO! Dan is just trying to make his life a little easier with the pre-confirms and I support that. People are gonna be stupid and it's a little unfair to tell him to keep dealing with it BECAUSE.
I really appreciate these three and the whole team - in the era of inauthentic marketing that claims to be authentic, these three are doing a stand-up job.
I also expect this to continue - it is why I was getting concerned about 5 years ago that filling in the rest of the Official Handbook era was going to get pushed aside for 90's and later looks. It has happened to some extent, but we still get a decent amount of earlier stuff. I actually think it would be in their best interest to get out the 25 or so most requested 60's to 90's looks they haven't done and pivot even more to post 2000 and current looks.
I second this - the tenure of the entire conversation around the line would improve if they would JUST get that stuff over with. If those fans who truly only want classic really do close up their collections (I think that amount would be in the teens), the lack of constant whinging and disappointment would be an overall improvement. I don't mean that to be insulting - we all want what we want - but if it they were just done and DONE WELL - the conversation could truly move forward and gratitude could replace the whinging.
The tenor of the entire conversation around the line would improve if they would JUST get that stuff over with. If those fans who truly only want classic really do close up their collections (I think that amount would be in the teens), the lack of constant whinging and disappointment would be an overall improvement. I don't mean that to be insulting - we all want what we want - but if it they were just done and DONE WELL - the conversation could truly move forward and gratitude could replace the whinging.
As one of the whiners clearly being described I will whole heartedly agree. Give me those long ignored classic characters I have to have to round out my displays so I can more excitedly embrace the modern interpretations and continue to expand the collection. I am not interested in capping off my collection and going away. I just want my displays fleshed out appropriately. I've had Enchantress for nearly a decade without her right hand man. I've had half a dozen Namor figures at least but not his chief rival and foe. You've given me figures of oversize figures from Armadillo to Xemnu but can't give Black Panther's chief rival M'Baku? We've got the vast majority of the Avengers line ups done, and multiple versions of Thanos, but not classic Avengers member and Thanos' brother Starfox?
Just cross them off the list Hasbro. I promise I'll keep buying the modern stuff, too.
I'm usually an MCU apologist, but there was some stuff post Endgame that was just plain bad to me. Love and Thunder, Multiverse of Madness, Quantumania, Wakanda Forever, just didn't do it for me. Secret Invasion was also very anticlimactic. I loved most of the D+ series. Hawkeye, WandaVision, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, were all enjoyable despite the decompression for some. Marvels was ok, Shang Chi was great.
Apologist is probably a strong word. I think everything pre-Endgame/No Way Home was legitimately excellent. But there was a distinct decline. And when nearly all of the movies going into Phase 4/5 were sure bets, the duds really stand out. The tone changed too dramatically, you could see all the cracks in the facade thanks to so many factors like the pandemic, the writers' strike, the loss of Boseman, the controversy with Majors.. it was one painful hit after another. I do think MCU is back on the rise, but won't know for sure til I see Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
I generally love the MCU personally even though there's a lot that I would have done differently. With that being said, I only buy MCU figures of characters that have never had comic versions made. I fully expect many different actors to play many of these roles over the years whereas the comics looks are timeless.
I get the frustration. My primary interests are the '60s, '80s, and post-'00s. I'm sick of the '90s stuff, too. I'm sure they'll come back around to my wants, though. They always do.
My favorite part of the reveal thought were the confirmations that we'll be getting more Savage Land and Capcom characters. Common Rogue, Shana and Psylocke! I need a good version of my girl in the Jim Lee costume. They have to go all in on her before we finally can give British Betsy some love.
Do they, though? I'm just asking for a single armored figure and then they can go back to making 600 ninja Psylocke figures. 😉
Things I've learned so far during the Fanstream -
-You have to be an influencer to get the Hasbro teams attention and get your favorite figure made.
-Dan says that people bugging him and asking for figures gets his attention. So we all need to flood his Twitter/X feed with Skurge, Attuma, M'Baku, Jim Hammond, Toro, Mantis, Warriors Three, Basilisk and our other favorites that I can't think of off the top on my head.
-They love their bait & switch: Lizard/Electro, Savage Land Professor X/Shanna
I'm sure I'll be updating this...
I had to take my wife to the airport at 4 a.m. PT so I came home and slept through the stream. What did he say about influencers?
Next year will be a Daredevil anniversary year it seems. Along with the show, could be a shitload of DD.
Goddamn, I hope so. Along with Thor, Matt operates in one of the more neglected corners of the MU. DD is the best.
Anyway - I think most of the recent MCU content gets a bad rap and isn't as bad as a lot of people like to portray. It isn't as good as the Phase 3 stuff, but much of it is easily as good as some of the Phase 1 or 2 offerings. Most of those films listed - with the exception of Quantumania and Love and Thunder - stack up against Iron Man 3 or Thor 2 for quality.
I don't want to derail this thread with further MCU talk, but I disagree with this to my core. It's where my opinion diverges from the MCU stans. Phase 1 and 2 had a lot of bad-but-enjoyable movies. You could compare them to bad-but-enjoyable action movies like Bad Boys 2 or Face-Off. Phases 4 and 5 are chock full of bad-and-unenjoyable movies. They feel like they're being made to carry numbers on a spreadsheet.
Thor: The Dark World is bad, but it's fun. Eternals isn't fun. Love and Thunder isn't fun. Quantumania isn't fun. They all masquerade as fun, but the jokes are flat, the stories aren't compelling, and they aren't interesting. Maybe the formula went stale, but I think it's more than that. Before, they were building to something. Now it feels to me like they're just checking boxes to get the next one out the door.
Apologist is probably a strong word. I think everything pre-Endgame/No Way Home was legitimately excellent. But there was a distinct decline. And when nearly all of the movies going into Phase 4/5 were sure bets, the duds really stand out. The tone changed too dramatically, you could see all the cracks in the facade thanks to so many factors like the pandemic, the writers' strike, the loss of Boseman, the controversy with Majors.. it was one painful hit after another. I do think MCU is back on the rise, but won't know for sure til I see Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
I think that sums things up really well. Not only was there a decline - sometimes modest and other times steep - in quality from Phase 3; but the dilated time frame with the pandemic and then the writer's strike really damaged momentum. The loss of Boseman entirely changing the trajectory of Black Panther; and then having to ditch not just the actor, but the character and framework of the phase you were building around Kang..
As you say it was a lot of negatives stacked up at the wrong time, just as the MCU was trying to rebuild momentum after sending off arguably it's two biggest name characters and actors as well.
Additionally the pandemic fundamentally changed the audiences relationship with movie going. It's just different now. People really need a reason to go out and see a movie in the theater these days. Way harder to get butts in those seats today than it was in 2019. And with some of the story already being told on the TV screen anyway - why not just wait for the movie to hit Disney+ too?
As for the trajectory of the MCU now - the scuttlebutt about Brave New World is still a tad concerning. I hear a lot about bad audience testing and reshoots and it's hard to tell how much is real and how much is that same contingent of "anti-woke" agitators pre-panning a film where the two heroes are a black guy and a hispanic guy.
The talk about Thunderbolts seems much more generally positive though, so I am hopeful that the MCU will be finding it's footing again.
Denzel Washington claiming he's in the next Black Panther movie is probably good for it though. Hopefully Coogler can get in a better head space than he was in for the second one and we can get another good one. He's a good film maker so I gotta believe he'll deliver.
Anyway - hopefully the movies get back on a regular release cadence and the figures can get produced more regularly for all the collectors who have been starved for their movie toys.
I have to believe Hasbro will be supporting the Thunderbolts film with a wave, right?
And maybe they'll get a MCU mixed 'make up' wave out that can deliver a Cassandra Nova, a masked Wolverine, handsome pool or Lady Pool, maybe a Daredevil figure from the Born Again show, and maybe another figure from Brave New World, if warranted - Leader or Seth Volker or something? (see, I made it toy related 😉 )
When the Hasbro ML guys were incredulous there would be someone who wasn't interested in anything shown...well...I may be that guy. Of the Spider-Man stuff, Agent Venom is sorta appealing. And Kaine always had a good look. I just don't need any of the figures from that wave. Same with the X-Men wave. It's cool seeing characters new to the line, like Marrow, but again, I didn't see anything which I personally need. Which is fine. Everything looks good though.
Oddly, the one figure which may tempt me the most is movie Lizard. But I'd just use him as a random lizard man for other lines.
The Adam Warlock staff and potential Archangel feather-darts seem to be further confirmation of the leaked list.
I don't see this line as moving away from Silver and Bronze age characters and looks. After the last 2 years, I'm not sure how anyone can say something like that. We've gotten a ton of Bronze age figures. Sure, some waves (like the 2 revealed today) don't have much from that era, but it's just the nature of having such a wide pool of stuff to draw from. Some eras will be represented. Some won't. It's nothing to panic over or hope some of the ML staff moves away from the line.
When the Hasbro ML guys were incredulous there would be someone who wasn't interested in anything shown...well...I may be that guy. Of the Spider-Man stuff, Agent Venom is sorta appealing. And Kaine always had a good look. I just don't need any of the figures from that wave. Same with the X-Men wave. It's cool seeing characters new to the line, like Marrow, but again, I didn't see anything which I personally need. Which is fine. Everything looks good though.
Oddly, the one figure which may tempt me the most is movie Lizard. But I'd just use him as a random lizard man for other lines.
The Adam Warlock staff and potential Archangel feather-darts seem to be further confirmation of the leaked list.
I don't see this line as moving away from Silver and Bronze age characters and looks. After the last 2 years, I'm not sure how anyone can say something like that. We've gotten a ton of Bronze age figures. Sure, some waves (like the 2 revealed today) don't have much from that era, but it's just the nature of having such a wide pool of stuff to draw from. Some eras will be represented. Some won't. It's nothing to panic over or hope some of the ML staff moves away from the line.
Phase 1 and 2 had a lot of bad-but-enjoyable movies. You could compare them to bad-but-enjoyable action movies like Bad Boys 2 or Face-Off. Phases 4 and 5 are chock full of bad-and-unenjoyable movies. They feel like they're being made to carry numbers on a spreadsheet.
Thor: The Dark World is bad, but it's fun. Eternals isn't fun. Love and Thunder isn't fun. Quantumania isn't fun. They all masquerade as fun, but the jokes are flat, the stories aren't compelling, and they aren't interesting. Maybe the formula went stale, but I think it's more than that. Before, they were building to something. Now it feels to me like they're just checking boxes to get the next one out the door.
Thor the Dark World is fun? Really?
Eternals wasn't, and deliberately so, I think, and certainly not quippy the way alot of Marvel movies are - but I don't think it's even close to the same category as the other two you mention. To this day my wife says Eternals is her favorite Marvel movie. My son who was 13 at the time liked it. I don't at all see how you can watch Eternals and think it was just "checking boxes" - there were obviously some parts included meant to service other films, but they were super minor, in fact only the stinger scenes stand out with Dane Whitman and Starfox as deliberately tieing to other films.
And I agree with you that Quantumania and Love and Thunder are the nadir of the MCU experience. Those movies mistook being zany for being fun, I think, and got it all wrong.
I think the problem with Phase 4 was that it wanted to establish new characters in the MCU - so it could use them to build to a culmination in Phase 6, the same way Phase 1 introduced Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain America before bringing them together and then building on that in phase 2 and having a crescendo in Phase 3.
So we got Shang Chi, and Eternals, and a new Black Widow to replace Natasha - and I guess they tried to have their cake and eat it too introducing new heroes in Quantumania, and Love and Thunder while still having the old heroes as well. But all the factors I outlined in the other post held it back. As did the new inclusion of stories told in another space. It did get too big and too spread out to be cohesively held together. And then the conclusion they were building toward - Kang - got scrapped just as it got started - so now it's just a mess.
It doesn't mean it can't be put back together again; but it's definitely messier now. And they have an established high bar that would be difficult to reach for any project, so are bound to disappoint some people - but if you judge the new stuff based on the bar set by Love and Thunder - well, you'll probably be impressed 😉
Ferringo Hulk and Brown Captain America to go with the Hammond Spidey is crazy enough to work... I'd want a Bixby Banner as well...
Is it just me or is Marrow's skin color wrong? Isn't she supposed to be purpler? Seems to flesh-toney.
It's her post-surgery look where they made her look more conventionally attractive (because superheroines aren't allowed to be ugly), which they subsequently used for her Marvel vs. Capcom design.
This is the exact look I was hoping for, so I'm elated.
Ryan said "she's going to take you for a ride," and that's a reference to the Marvel vs Capcom 2 character select music that says that phrase right when the screen comes up. Love that game, so as soon as he said it I knew he meant they took her look from the game.
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