Marvel Legends Ant-Man review — Target exclusive

While I’m partial to his larger alter-ego, I quickly realized Ant-Man was just as formidable a challenge as his Avengers teammates. Full disclosure, Hasbro is labeling this latest Marvel Legends Ant-Man figure as Scott Lang, but after that horrid Retro version for me this is finally getting a quality Hasbro version of Hank Pym Ant-Man after a few misfires.

From the moment the Hasbro ML team revealed its updated Marvel Legends Ant-Man, I’ve had this on my short list of most anticipated figures of 2023. Let’s see if he rises to the challenge or if this is just another version that comes up a little short. FYI, coming up with this pun-heavy teasers is about as easy as you’d imagine.

Packaging: I won’t keep bellyaching about the windowless packaging. This era is almost done. I do think Hasbro’s design team put a smidge more work into Ant-Man’s setup with the artwork of Hank sizing up from ant-size to his normal height. That image is repeated on the left side while a render is on the right side.

The back features an action shot of the figure with generic comic book panels in the background. A nicer touch would be for this to just spotlight Ant-Man comic art. And there’s a window showing all of the “various” accessories included.

Likeness:  Hasbro opted for the updated All-New, All-Different Spider-Man 2099 body for Ant-Man. This is a smart choice as it’s not nearly as gangly and scrawny as the Pizza Spider-Man body, which Hasbro used on the Retro Ant-Man.

With this base, Hank/Scott has more substance and looks like a grown man instead of a young college student. The helmet is definitely a highlight. It’s very well done with enough spacing and depth to show that he’s wearing a helmet instead of a mask.

Unlike the still great Toy Biz version, this is more accurate with a rounded mouthpiece section. The antennae are surprisingly thin, which is something that usually gets more pronounced for safety hazards, but Hasbro was able to make them look more authentic.

The head sculpt is also exceptional with a fantastic expression that gives him an inquisitive look like he’s puzzled by a new mystery. Ant-Man’s body doesn’t have much detail save the belt capsules. The larger capsules on either side should be thicker like the Toy Biz version, but otherwise this turned out nice.

There are no sculpted details for his gloves, however.

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Paint: When they debuted, the Avengers had a nice blend of colors with the all-golden Iron Man, green and purple Hulk, blue and black Thor and red and blue/black Ant-Man and Wasp.

The figure’s colors look sharp compared to his fellow Avengers with a nice rich shade of red, a glossy black and vibrant light blue. Ant-Man’s head sculpt features excellent paint work as well from the eyes, lips and a slight trace of a five o’clock shadow.

Scale: Ant-Man is an average size guy, but he’s working with guys who are Asgardian gods, super serum soldiers and a dude in a suit of armor. He shouldn’t be eye to eye with any of them doubly so when he’s Giant Man.

Articulation:  Ant-Man can pull off a lot of fun poses. The ANAD mold really allowed for some easy and dynamic action shots while being able to sustain poses for an extended period of time.

This is a figure that’s going to be fun playing up the scale against regular sized people in addition to fellow Marvel Legends characters. is a gesturing character. When he’s feeling himself, he might get into some peacocking braggadocios stances.

It would have been nice if Ant-Man’s helmet mouthpiece was articulated so it could get raised closer to his mouth like it would appear in the comics and the package art. That’s a not a knock since the Hasbro version didn’t have it either and it doesn’t seem like an easy thing to articulate. Maybe a separate mouthpiece could have worked?

Ant-Man has:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders
• elbow (double-jointed)
• wrist
• wrist hinge (up and down)
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee (double-jointed)
• shin
• ankle

Accessories: Ant-Man is really lacking on this front only coming with swappable matching hands — a right fist and open left hand. That’s pretty lame for a $25 figure. This would have been an ideal opportunity to release both a Hank and Scott head sculpt for those unmasked moments. A tiny ant or a mini Ant-Man also would have been worthwhile inclusions.

Extra hands are just not nearly enough.

Worth it?  Ant-Man is a Target exclusive, but unlike most of the other Target figures, he hasn’t hit clearance yet so I shelled out the full $24.99 for him. Like I said that value isn’t great for what you’re getting, but at least the figure is well done and executed strongly enough that I feel completely ripped off.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Ant-Man is a great figure and I love the shiny sheen on his helmet. He just loses some points for the complete absence of any creative accessories.

Where to get it?  Ant-Man is still available at Target, but you might want to hurry. Failing that try Target.com.

As a Target affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.