Wong has appeared in a number of Marvel Cinematic projects following his debut in 2016 in the first Doctor Strange movie, but it has taken 6 years for us to finally get a Marvel Legends 6-inch figure of Wong - as seen in the upcoming movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Like the other Multiverse of Madness figures in the wave, we find Wong in the usual Marvel Legends packaging with a red nameplate on the box front under the movie logo and side art depicting the character against a multicoloured backdrop. This same rainbow of colour is applied to the backing card that also features the Sanctum Santorum window design.
Wong, in his updated robes, is pictured fully on the back of the box above the Rintrah BAF checklist and to the side of a short piece of background text that follows up on dialogue from Spider-Man: No Way Home and confirms Wong's new role in the MCU.
"Wong takes over for The Ancient One as Sorcerer Supreme and leader of Kamar-Taj, teaching a new era of sorcerers to protect our reality from mystical threats."
As Wong is a debut character for the Marvel Legends line, the head is a brand new sculpt and features a relatively strong likeness to Benedict Wong and enhanced further with photo-real paint applications focused around the eyes and the facial hair, but also adding some shading around the nose and eyes.
While the head is a strong likeness, the figure does feel off when you unpack it and that is perhaps down to proportions with the head looking a little undersized on the body and certainly on quite a long neck which is not how we find Wong on screen with a more squat and compact build.
The body is also entirely new and is based on the more colourful robes we will see in Multiverse of Madness. Like both Strange and Mordo, the layers and patterns across the robes are impressive from an ornate relief design on the chest section, to quilted panels on the skirt. As you explore the figure you will also find other details including Wong's sling-ring sculpted and painted as part of his belt, and a left-hand bracer with a winged design in gold and then inlaid with a blue cross design. The colours are all bright and crisp and pop off the figure. The yellow, a notoriously hard colour to apply, is bright. And the applied details like the ring and the pins on his chest are all neatly painted.
Like the head the body just feels a bit out of proportion with a squat short torso and wide hips and legs - the costume doesn't help here with a high waistband and very baggy trousers sitting under the skirt piece.
Wong comes with a pair of open spell-casting hands fitted including that left hand with the two outstretched forefingers we see Wong gesture with when magical spells. You can then also cast those spells with a second pair of hands complete with spell shield effects attached. These are taken directly from the No Way Home Doctor Strange with the skin tone adjusted for Wong. Like the previous usage, these do look as good as you potentially could get with practical translucent plastic effects and they carry a fair bit of detail within the mystical circle itself.
Wong also gets a sword in this release - an item we assume will play a part in Multiverse of Madness. To wield this we have a final alternative right gripping hand. The sword itself is a grey plastic base and has a bright silver blade, white painted hilt, and golden crossguard. This guard is similar to Mordo's crossbow with intricate sculpted detail that gets a bit lost without a secondary wash or paint app to enhance them.
Wong has 19 points of articulation and is much improved on Mordo from the same wave in terms of joint execution. Again the legs are restricted behind a skirt piece, so the double joint has been swapped to a single rotating joint instead.
The double joint is retained at the elbow allowing for a full range of arm movement - although there is still no butterfly shoulders. The waist joint is tucked away under the central waist and has a good degree of motion to the sides and back and forward. The head is jointed on that slightly long neck at both base and top so the head can move extensively also - although doing so does expose a gap at the base of the neck in certain positions.
It is great to finally get a Wong figure in the Marvel Legends line and there is a lot to like about the Multiverse of Madness version including a fantastic level of detail in the sculpting of the robes, bright colours, and a good level of articulation. The figure suffers - in my opinion - with a couple of proportional issues mainly the head size and neck length and minor tweaks on these would have elevated Wong to new heights.
I guess I am also not alone in hoping we see a retrospective release of Wong from his early MCU
robes. I personally prefer the muted colours we see him wear in Doctor Strange and Endgame and having Wong from these films would see a significant character gap filled.
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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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