Marvel Legends Genis-Vell figure review

I’m not about to do a Captain Marvel history lesson right now, but one of the benefits of a Captain Marvel movie is it allows Hasbro a chance to double dip into other characters that have used the name. In this instance it’s Genis-Vell. Peter David and Crisscross collaborated on a very intriguing run on Captain Mar-Vell’s son who initially just tried to love up to his father’s legacy before going crazy.

This Marvel Legends figure is based on that crazy period and was one of my most anticipated figures in the Captain Marvel wave.

Packaging:  The bio is fairly comprehensive despite no mention whatsoever of his famous father. Hasbro has gone a more colorful route for the side packaging now, which makes sense as they’ve exhausted the theme colors for the wave. The package does have a general purple accent, which is similar to the Guardians of the Galaxy waves.

Likeness:  One of my favorite aspects of this outfit is the Kree helmet. It’s captured in all of its Spartan glory. The biggest knock with the figure is the small hole for the neck peg.

It gives Genis a bobblehead visual when you turn his head or look from the sides. Considering this was a new head sculpt, Hasbro’s designers should have made sure it would fit snugly in the neck peg. It’s the kind of mistake we rarely see from Hasbro.

Beyond the helmet, he’s got his Kree armor shoulder pads, holster and Nega-Bands. Out of the box, the shoulder strap is on the wrong side as it should be aligned with the holster.

Genis-Vell has the bulkier mold from the Grim Reaper body. It gives him a bit more stature and presence. Ironically, I’d prefer a smaller body for his earlier costume based more on Mar-Vell’s outfit.

Scale:  Genis-Vell stands a little taller than the standard figure, which is fitting for a cosmic character.

 

Paint:  I love the paintwork here. Genis-Vell had a star-like pattern reflecting his Cosmic Awareness. The stars are arranged in a nice random pattern without looking like white speckles. At first glance, I thought the green was a little too dark, but it matches up to the comic look just right. The body is cast in a translucent material to really pull off that other-worldly  appearance.

I dig that Hasbro went with the pearlescent green as well to capture that armor sheen look. The Nega-Bands also have a nice shade of metallic gold. Getting the eyes right were important with this figure and they’re indicative of all of the nice line work throughout.

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Articulation: Genis-Vell has exactly the kind of range of movement I’d need from a cosmic powered character. He can slug it out with guys like Terrax or the Hulk alike. The shoulder armor hinders the arms from moving too far from left to right.

 

You can move them for terrific flight poses. This is the one area where the weird head/neck connection works out as it allows for a much deeper range for flight posing. I read some reviews where people complained about the body flopping around a lot thanks to loose joints. That wasn’t a problem with mine as the joints were nice and tight.

Genis-Vell has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• biceps
• elbows (double-jointed)
• wrists
• torso
• waist
• hips
• thighs
• knees (double-jointed)
• boot
• ankles

Accessories:  Genis-Vell  doesn’t really need a lot of accessories. At this point the character is ridiculously overpowered and the blaster is really more for show. The blaster earlier is from the old Kree vs. Skrull two-pack. This was when Hasbro was still figuring out how to do this line right so it’s not the greatest set. I’d love a redo of it now.

Finally, he comes with the right leg for the BAF Kree Sentry. I’m really on the fence about this BAF. I’m thinking this will be a purchase when the line is on deep discount.

Worth it? You can get Genis-Vell for a bit under the regular $20 retail price. Hasbro isn’t hurting with this line and this isn’t clearance markdowns and is a small, but worthwhile savings.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Besides the head/neck combination, I really like this figure. It features some eye popping colors and is a new look for a character that’s badly in need of a modern Hasbro update.

Where to get it?  Genis-Vell seems to be one of the more popular figures in the Captain Marvel wave, but you should be able to find him fine in stores. Otherwise, you can grab him from Amazon.com.