Marvel Legends Spider-man Retro Carded wave 6
Spider-man Unlimited
Agent Venom
Spider-boy
Electro (Francine Frye)
Kaine
Chameleon
Spider-man Unlimited
Intended to be a follow up to the Spider-man the Animated Series, Spider-man Unlimited started with Peter and Mary Jane finally back together. After an exploratory shuttle mission carrying John Jameson to a planet called Counter-Earth goes awry thanks to Venom and Carnage, Spidey gets the blame. In order to clear his name, Spider-man travels to Counter-Earth to bring Jameson back.
A big departure from Spidey’s usual costume, this one is made with help from Reed Richards and is actually composed of nanobots.
For some reason, the show’s design team decided to give Spidey a cape, I guess they were copying the look of Spider-man 2099?
Aside from his usual web shooters, Spidey’s new costume also features stealth camo, impact webbing, sonic weapons, as well as Spider darts!
While on Counter-Earth, Spider-man teams up with the local rebellion (now lead by John Jameson) to take on the High Evolutionary, who has created a society of mutants called Beastials. The show was very, very strange. I guess it was Marvel’s attempt at copying Batman Beyond’s success at the time?
As for the figure, we don’t really get much, just the usual spare hands. We don’t even get web effects. Thankfully, it is still fun to pose.
The series ended only after one season and on a cliffhanger to boot. We never really got to know what happened to Spidey after Carnage and Venom unleashed their master plan to destroy the planet (or something). But we do see this version of Spidey as a background character in “Across the Spider-verse” so, I guess things all worked out?
Agent Venom
Flash Thompson used to bully Peter Parker around back in high school, but became one of Peter’s closest friends when they grew older. A former marine who eventually lost his legs in the line of duty in Iraq, Flash is given the chance to serve his country once again after he is given the Venom symbiote by the U.S. Military.
The set comes with Flash Thompson’s “unmasked” head attached by default.
Pretty decent head sculpt. Though I would’ve preferred a younger look for the former gym coach.
I never really understood why Agent Venom had so many spikes all over his body. Visually interesting, sure, but it reminds me of shellfish IMHO.
As the new host for the Venom symbiote, Flash can only stay bonded to it for a maximum period of 48 hours at a time. Any longer and the symbiote starts to take over his mind with violent results.
As Agent Venom, Flash has increased strength, reflexes and durability.
Since Flash is an army veteran, he still prefers carrying his trusty sidearm when in costume.
The weapon isn’t your standard pistol though. It looks more like a laser pistol. I’m not sure if this is accurate?
Since Agent Venom is all about a more militarized version of Venom, he can use guns and rifles as part of his repertoire, something Eddie Brock never really did back in the day.
I believe this rifle is a reuse of the guns we got with the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents 2-pack.
The previous Agent Venom was released as a Walgreens exclusive way back in 2014.
Spider-boy
Bailey Bartholomew Briggs was previously just an ordinary boy before being kidnapped and experimented on by Madame Monstrosity (Melodia Stillwell), splicing spider DNA into Bailey’s body, creating an animal-human hybrid. After the events of the latest Spider-verse saga, he is introduced as a hero that everyone forgot due to being previously erased off-panel by Morlun.
Bailey’s costume features this backpack. Kinda reminds one of Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes).
Apart from having the same powers as Spider-man, Spider-boy can also change into his hybrid form, as we see here.
In this form, Bailey gains a paralyzing venom bite attack, enhanced vision, plus the ability to communicate with spiders.
As Bailey is still a 10-year-old child, the way he swings across webs usually makes him look awkward. At least that’s the impression I get from the panels in the comics.
Spider-boy also has the unique ability of psychometry, where he can tell the history of any object he touches.
Personally, I don’t really feel anything for this character. We already got Mile Morales as a “younger Spider-man”, why add another, even younger, spider into the mix? The IP is already so diluted as it is.
Electro (Francine Frye)
A crazy fan of supervillains, Francine attempted to kiss the original Electro, resulting in her dying from electrocution. After being cloned and brought back to life by Ben Reilly, she is one of the few clones that survive the “Clone Conspiracy” arc. She continues her criminal career as a mercenary for New York City’s crime lords.
I actually kind of like how the Hasbro design team gave her this crazy-looking smile.
Thankfully, for “Electro”, they included effects parts and not just hands.
I gotta say, I was not expecting Hasbro to give such big effects pieces here. Wish they did things like this all the time.
At some point in the comics, she accidentally kills the original Electro (Max Dillon) when they meet up again, by kissing him (again). Doctor Octopus is eventually able to bring him back to life. So there are essentially two Electros now running around in Marvel Comics.
Kaine
The first Spider-man clone created by the Jackal, Kaine was an imperfect copy of the web-slinger, resulting in a physically deformed Peter clone with mental instability.
Kaine’s arms and legs have protrusions / scallops, which are supposedly extensions of his bones, caused by his clone body degenerating.
It takes a real man to get away with wearing neon pink and looking macho while doing it.
While the figure goes for panel accuracy, this part of the cape can get in the way of posing the figure’s right arm.
Due to his cells degenerating, Kaine’s biology is different than Spider-man’s in some ways. Such as his Spider-sense being stronger than Peter’s, being able to even see glimpses of the future and can even sense Venom when the latter is nearby, something the original Spider-man could never do.
Kaine also has an ability called “the mark of Kaine”, where his touch can leave scars on surfaces and even people the comes into physical contact with. This is meant to be a more extreme and unrefined version of Spider-man’s ability to stick to walls.
Kaine is eventually cured of his cellular degeneration at the end of the Spider-Island saga, after he falls into a pool of highly concentrated cure for the Spider-virus. Currently, Kaine is operating as the Scarlet Spider in the comics.
Chameleon
Dmitri Smerdyakov is Kraven the Hunter’s half-brother. Adept at mimicking others and becoming a master of disguise, he becomes an international spy and a criminal mastermind.
While having no real superpowers, Dmitri’s belt has a holographic projector that allows him to change his appearance to copy anyone. His costume is also made from memory material so it changes as well when he isn’t using his holographic projector belt buckle.
I kind of wish they gave the body strap more allowance. Its current length makes the belt go up too high on the figure’s torso.
Since the Chameleon generally works as a spy or thief, he usually carries a sidearm pistol.
Yeah… it’s the same gun we got with Agent Venom in this wave. Sigh…
For more doubling down, Hasbro decided to give us the same rifle Agent Venom comes with here too.
Previously, the Chameleon did not have any powers and relied on his skills and make up to copy anyone. Marvel decided to change this by making his powers innate, with Dmitri surgically and mutagenically removing his skin pigmentation and facial features to make it easier put on masks and change his identity.
Of course, this was all for not, when he later decided to use technology such as his holographic projector to change his looks instead. I guess he physically deformed himself for nothing.
Lastly, the set comes with a J. Jonah Jameson mask as an accessory. Too bad you can’t really put on his head.
As the first supervillain ever introduced in Spider-man’s career, Chameleon holds the distinction of being the first bad guy ever in Spidey’s rogue’s gallery (aside from the burglar who shot uncle Ben).
The complete wave
Wow… I think it’s been a while since I’ve actually bought a full wave of Marvel Legends, usually because the figures in the last few waves were mixed with reused characters in their less iconic costumes (Miles Morales in a jacket for one). This is actually the first wave in a while where we get all-new, never-before-done characters (except for Spidey, of course).
Gold
