"Okay. Hey, when you run into him, just... Just treat him like an old friend. Call him by his name."
The Marvel TV Special Werewolf by Night aired in 2022 with a coloured version following a year later in 2023. The Disney+ special gave us our first look at a Marvel Cinematic Man-Thing along with other iconic characters such as the titular character Jack Russel and Elsa Bloodstone. There were no particular indications that we were to expect any Marvel Legends figures from this one-off release, and yet in the summer of 2024, it was confirmed that we were to get a new Man-Thing figure.
The Marvel Legends Man-Thing was a late October arrival, sold through Fan Channel retailers as well as Hasbro Pulse. He is packed into the new format squared packaging, but due to his bulk, the box has had to be extended across its width, depth and height to fit the figure inside. The basic design principles remain consistent with the Legends line with a black base colour, a large window that wraps around to the left-hand side, and a front-facing logo from the property the figure is representing - in this case Werewolf by Night.
The right-hand side of the box confirms the figure with an illustration around on the side panel, done here in black and white but with coloured red eyes to reflect the original presentation of the special on Disney+. Around the back we find the majority of the reverse side turned over to a recreation of the marketing poster sitting above the usual legal text. There is no room for any background info on Man-Thing. The figure sits in an inner tray that then sits within a deep red cardboard insert. There is no specific detail in the backdrop, although it is ‘distressed’ with black spatter and markings rather than a flat red.
One of the key drives for an MCU Man-Thing was of course the availability of a comic book figure from 2017 to build on. This 2017 build-a-figure does form the base of our new MCU Man-Thing but only by way of the core components of the waist, hips, upper legs, and upper arms. Everything else is sculpted as new to recreate the live action version of Man-Thing (Ted).
The body is cast in a deep green plastic with the sculpted foliage right across the body varying from vine line components to fungus-like growths on the arms and legs. These are picked out in completing browns and lighter greens with further colour teased around the shoulders with a small yellow flower budding on the left-hand side.
The head is a good recreation of Ted from his Disney+ outing, a look that remained very faithful to his comic book origins with the red eyes, prominent brow, and three extending ‘tusks’ from this cheeks and mouth area.
There are two sets of hands included with Man-Thing allowing you to choose between open hands and a pair of clenched fists. These are simple enough to pop in and out, and with a peg that is robust enough so not to be at risk of damage if you change the hands on a regular basis. Both sets of hands use the same base green as the figure and the same sculpted detail and brown-painted trailing tendrils.
Articulation is rooted back in the original 2017 figure and we do have visible pegs on the elbows and knees. Man-Thing has 19 points of articulation and is pretty articulate for a larger figure with a good range of motion in the arms and the ability in the torso and head to have him stoop forward or look upward. Despite the bulk of the upper torso, the legs are solid with the feet broad enough to hold Ted in place once posed with no obvious imbalance.
The Werewolf by Night Man-Thing is an interesting and quite unique release in so much that he is accurate enough to the comic books to fit into both a Marvel Cinematic or Marvel Comicbook collection. Yes, he is based on an older figure but more than 50% of the figure has been updated when Hasbro might have tried to get away with a head swap for a re-release of this nature. He has sufficient bulk and height to warrant the Deluxe release has £40 RRP with Fan Channel retailers dropping below this if you shop around. All in all, this is an impressive and quite surprising release who’s only potential flaw is the lack of universe-building around him - although the promo blurb released with the figure when it was announced did allude to more Werewolf by Night figures to come.
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About Me : As a child of the 70's and 80's I grew up in a golden age for action figures and in my youth bought and sold myself through collections of Star Wars, G.I. Joe (Action Force) and M.A.S.K. while also dabbling in He-Man, Transformers and Ghostbusters. Roll forward and I am now reliving that Youth with the action figures of today and am a collector and fan of the larger 6-8 inch figures from my favourite movie and TV licences - including the ones mentioned above, but also the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Doctor Who and the Aliens. I launched The Mephitsu Archives in 2015 with a view of creating a UK focused site or these figures where fans can pick up the latest action figure news, read reviews and get information on where to buy their figures and what is currently on store shelves. I hope I am delivering that to you guys...
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