Marvel Legends 85th Anniversary Superior Spider-Man review
Superior Spider-Man was a pretty fun gimmick for Spider-Man. Doctor Octopus pulled a little Freaky Friday action and took over Peter Parker’s body, but he got burdened with Spider-Man’s sense of responsibility “forcing” him to become a hero.
Hasbro already took a crack at Superior Spider-Man, but the body used hasn’t aged well. And there were some missing costume elements Hasbro didn’t include with the first version. What better time to revisit him than the Marvel Comics 85th anniversary wave?
Let’s see if this take on the SSM look has a leg…or arm up (sorry, not sorry) on the earlier figure. Better yet, maybe it can enter the conversation as one of the top Marvel Legends of 2024?
Packaging: The 85th wave figures all share a uniform package setup. It’s a streamlined, sleeker packaging with a black and copper color scheme with some random tech piping.
On the right side, there’s a small portrait with the image in full on the back. Hasbro really should identify the artists and the comic referenced with the artwork. This is from Superior Spider-Man #1 from 2023 by Mark Bagley. There’s no bio or much personalization at all here. I do like the package insert with various logos from the A-list heroes.
Likeness: Superior Spider-Man isn’t especially different from the standard Spider-Man figure save for a killer paint job.
SSM has a new torso and arms to incorporate the gauntlets. These were missing from the original figure.
They’ve got some great detail and I love that they don’t fully wrap around his wrist. I dig the orb in the center as well.
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Paint: SSM artist Humberto Ramos has a less traditional style and he tended to draw the web pattern a little wilder. The figure has an even more erratic web design, but it does reflect Ramos’ take pretty well. Red and black make for a darker color scheme mirroring this story arc. The silver gauntlets help to break it up somewhat as does the red palms of both hands.
Easily the coolest aspect of the figure is the new printing technique for his eye slots. Instead of the usual white, these are done with a pattern printed in them like the reflections of a cityscape as Spider-Man slings around New York City. That’s such a cool touch and something I hope isn’t a one-off.
I spotted one stray line in the right palm, but the paint overall is really well done.
Scale: Superior Spider-Man doesn’t magically change his height and weight just because Doc Ock is in his body. He should be the same height as previous Spider-Man figures meaning he’s taller than Astonishing Wolverine and looking up at Captain America and Thor.
Articulation: More than any other character this side of Daredevil or Deadpool, Spider-Man needs to hit the pinnacle of Marvel Legends articulation. Since this figure doesn’t use the Renew Your Vows body, there are some limitations, but we still get a pretty solid articulation flow.
I wish his neck articulation had more range to allow for more personality in the poses. One of the main reasons for the different torso is because of the backpack.
The newer, ‘floating’ torso likely doesn’t have the internal structure necessary to house the backpack’s plugs. And be strong enough to support all of the Waldoes.
Superior Spider-Man has:
- neck
- ball-jointed shoulders
- bicep
- elbow (double-jointed)
- wrist
- wrist hinge
- torso
- torso hinge
- waist
- hip
- thigh
- knee (double-jointed)
- ankle
Accessories: Like most Spider-Man figures, this one has a nice allotment of swappable hands. He’s got web-shooting and grasping hands.
He’s also got an alternate head sculpt. The big difference with this one is it’s the classically painted pearlescent silver eyes. This is something that hasn’t happened very often despite the litany of Spider-Man figures I’ve gotten, but some of the black around the right eye is missing. Thankfully it’s the standard one as that’s easily replaceable.
The big improvement of this figure compared to the first Superior Spider-Man is the addition of the Spider-Arms. This was Doc Ock’s nod to his former identity. SSM kept a backpack on, which housed the Spider-Arms. Hasbro went the extra mile here by giving us two backpacks. One with open holes for the Spider-Arms to plug into and the other with those holes closed.
The Spider-Arms are a great bonus accessory especially since they don’t result in a price hike. They’re not small with large, segmented portions giving each arm four points of articulation.
That’s good enough to get some great poses with Superior Spider-Man including balancing on them. They also plug into the backpack with no trouble. This was a pretty awesome upgrade from the original that completely justifies the double dip.
Worth it? Superior Spider-Man was the regular price of $24.99, though that price wasn’t correct. The arms give him an additional $5 cost making him $29.99.
That’s not a huge rip off especially considering Hasbro could have called this a deluxe figure and charged $34.99 for him.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
The 85th Anniversary wave has been killer release after killer release. Superior Spider-Man is another easy winner. He’s dinged just slightly by the articulation limitations, but the Waldoes really add a unique element to this figure.
Where to get it? For now, online is the best route to get Superior Spider-Man is from Amazon or Entertainment Earth.
As an Amazon and Entertainment Earth affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases.