Even while Spider-Man: No Way Home was still playing in the Cinema, the Marvel MCU machine moved on to the next movie with the trailer and first visual images for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as scheduled for a May 2022 release.
Alongside the new trailer was the reveal by Hasbro of a new wave of MCU figures from the movie and a Deluxe special of a figure they referred to simply as 'Defender Strange'. This Deluxe set was no sooner announced than UK retailers announced its arrival and as of January 2022, the Defender Strange was being unpacked onto Marvel Legends shelves in the UK.
This review may contain what some consider minor spoilers, although we know nothing about the movie or the concept or context of Defender Strange at this time. Considering Disney and Marvel allowed its release, the Defender Strange is likely to feature in promotions for the movie and almost as a teaser as to what is actually going on?
The newer Deluxe format packaging remains the same height and depth as the standard Legends box, with the scooped sides and artwork. It is widened to fit the larger content and the hanging tab is lost from the top of the box. The Multiverse of Madness figures are using a red theme on the packaging with the red applied to the nameplate and the Dr. Strange logo on the box top. There is then a rainbow effect used as a background for the illustrations and on the card back for the set, both of which also feature the window of the Sanctum Sanctorum. The short piece of text on the rear of the box is essentially spoiler-free and very generic.
"Doctor Strange is earth's foremost magical defender, safeguarding our dimension against supernatural threats from across the multiverse"
The Doctor Strange figure is what appears to be a full new body sculpt and the costume has a more Far-East design than the costume we are accustomed to. Its shape and colour take a degree of inspiration from Fuedel Japan and Ancient China as well as from concepts of Sorceror Warriors from Fantasy. It is a very different and striking look for Strange heightened by the black base and the painted red designs which include some symbolism to a winged creature or dragon on the chest.
Outside of the red and black, the only colours added to the pallet are the brown around the bracers and onto the hands,
The head sculpt is also new and depicts a solemn and serious Benedict Cumberbatch with a great deal of focus built into the eyes. The photo-real deco adds realism as usual, and the likeness overall is as good as - if not better - than the most recent No Way Home Doctor Strange.
The hair is perhaps the biggest surprise in that Stephen is rocking a ponytail. The grey stripe is more evident than on previous on-screen appearances by strange and continues into the flowing ponytail.
This is a Deluxe Set build solely on the inclusion of the large Portal which we will discuss in a moment. The only other inclusions for Strange are the second pair of hands. The first set feature spell casting poses, while the alternative set have a clenched fist for the left hand and a gripping hand for the right - although there is nothing else in the set that Strange could or should be holding?
The sling-ring portal has appeared in numerous MCU films to date, heavily featuring in Avengers: Endgame with the final battle, and again recently in No Way Home. The Defender Strange is a vehicle to bring the Portal out into the Legends 6-inch line as an accessory and it is a most welcome inclusion.
Unlike SH Figuarts who used a printed portal on a clear disk, the Hasbro version is a full cast piece in quite a heavy plastic the portal is sculpted with a rotating flame effect with the flames licking off the side and bunching around the base. it is cast in translucent orange plastic with yellow added to the base and then up and fading around the circle,
This portal is sized for 6-inch figures height almost exactly, and that allows a single Marvel Legends to be posed with it but with the head touching the top of the ring. This means it is perhaps half an inch smaller than I would have liked for that kind of display with a single Legend figure and is definately too small for groups to appear if anyone has any Endgame displays in mind. The cast on mine is slightly off at the base so it does rock when placed on a flat surface although this does not spoil any aesthetics.
I am in no doubt that we will see this Portal again in future releases. And I for one would support Hasbro releasing this on its own or in packs of 2 or 3 as a Hasbro Pulse plain box exclusive like the Army Build figures.
While the sling-ring Portal is great and is a welcome addition to the MCU line as a whole, I felt a little shortchanged in that the magical shields shown on the box art are not included. They didn't even have to be new parts as the ones included in the No Way Home Strange are a perfect fit for this figure - albeit minus the red & brown gloved hands.
Defender Strange has the standard articulation count with 19 points in total including double-jointed elbows and knees - but no butterfly shoulders. The torso features both a waist swivel and a ball joint in the chest piece while the neck is a single joint but with a much smaller ball joint which does make it more fragile but allows a wider range of motion without a neck peg. I wouldn't recommend excessive head swaps with your Defender Strange as the peg is likely unable to stand up to that level of ongoing force.
The skirt of the outfit does limit leg movement quite some way as it comes down over the knee joint. While Defender Strange is restricted in that area, the hands and arms remain expressive and all joints are secure and work as intended.
Without knowing more about Defender Strange or without having any visuals I can't comment on accuracy or execution in figure form. What I can say is that Defender Strange is impressive in terms of the outfit design and it comes with another very strong Benedict Cumberbatch head sculpt. The portal is also well-executed, if not a touch undersized, and now is in circulation for inclusion in other releases.
The price point with the portal feels about right, but it would have been good for an additional pair of spell casting hands to be dropped into the set as seen on the box art. All in all, it's a worthwhile purchase, assuming he isn't wildly different (based on concepts) than we see in the film. Worth grabbing now while he is available as if he has any substantial part of the movie the demand will only spike once Multiverse of Madness hits our cinema screens.
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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...