Review: Marvel Legends Deluxe Lizard from Spider-Man: No Way Home
- Mephitsu
- Jun 16
- 6 min read
"Trust me, Peter. When you try to fix people, there are always consequences."
It has taken quite some time for Hasbro to finalise the Multiverse villains seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home from 2021. Having released Sandman, Doc Ock, and Green Goblin in 2023, it has taken until 2025 to complete the set with the release of Electro, and now the final figure of The Lizard.
Lizard, like all the others bar Sandman, is a deluxe release and he utilised the newer format packaging with an extended width to contain his extra bulk. The box is predominantly black, with side artwork on the right-hand side and the No Way Home logo front and centre under the large window. The rear of the box carries further artwork of Lizard and a very short piece of text confirming Doctor Connors in his reptilian form has returned to face Spider-Man.
Inside the box, the cardback is the yellow spider logo as used on Electro. Sadly, as these No Way Home figures have been spread over a 4-ear period, there is a huge variation in the box designs that will frustrate those looking for a uniform packaged display. The figure is also an Amazon exclusive, so while there should be global availability, there is always the risk of cancelled orders without notice, and damage to the packaging as Amazon continue to slim down both inner protective packaging and the inner box.
Lizard’s design is essentially identical in both Amazing Spider-Man 2 and No Way Home, with the figure most likely modelled on the more recent visuals and CGI. Out of the pack, it stands 7.5 inches (19cm) tall when fully extended, with a considerable arm span and rear protection thanks to the tail. The figure arrives with the tail separate from the body and this is assembled by clicking the tail onto the peg on Lizard’s rear end. The entire body is cast in green base plastic, with all of the parts featuring a scaled texture and overpainted on the front, and on the inner parts of the limbs and tail, with a blended beige transition. The torso appears to be a re-use of the Sauron figure from the Marvel Legends comic series, while arms, legs, tail and head are all new.
The figure arrives with an ‘angry’ head attached. This is cast in the same base green as the body with the same reptilian textured skin and scales, but with darker tones applied to enhance the look around the eyes and mouth. The eyes use a realistic, likely facial printed design with a golden iris. While the open mouth is coloured in pink flesh, and with the upper and lower teeth picked out in an ivory white. The head connects to the body by way of a neck piece that allows the original Suaron body to convert to the Lizard head. This follows the same colour and textured design as the body and head.
To reflect the calmer nature, at times, of The Lizard and Doctor Connors' influence behind the initial rage, a second ‘calm’ head is included. This follows all of the same likeness and decor principles as the first head, but with the mouth closed and the facial expression more thoughtful, while remaining sinister. The head swap out by way of a standard neck ball joint that protrudes from the upper neck section
Lizard comes with no accessories as such, a slight shame, as the device Spider-Man uses to cure Lizard towards the end of the film might have been a nice addition. We do, however, get alternative hands, giving you the choice between a pair of extended claw hands, a right-handed clenched fist, and a left-handed gripping hand (of sorts). Again, the greedy part of me would have liked a pair of fists and a pair of gripped hands, but we can make do with what we are given. Like the head, these are easy enough to swap.
Articulation is a little more complex than usual due to the Lizard’s anatomy, and we have a total of 20 joints across the body, all of which are pinless. The legs include a lower ankle rocker designed into the shape of the Lizard’s legs and allowing for more hunched and crouching positions while keeping the splayed feet flat to the floor. Above these are a double joint knee, basic thigh swivel and standard hip joint.
The (Sauron) torso includes a single central ball joint, but the neck section is also joined, allowing the neck to move up and down the body, enhancing the crouched or ‘stalking’ positions with the slightly longer neck peg granting similar movement to the head.
The arms are standard with a ball joint shoulder, bicep swivel, double joint elbows and wrist pegs. These might have benefited from butterfly shoulders, but the movement that would have provided would be minimal. The tail is initially jointed where it joins the torso by a hinged peg that moves up and down in one axis. The tail also incorporates a metal armature, and while this isn’t super flexible or particularly accurate at holding positions, it does have enough movement to use the tail strategically, either as a point of balance or extended out from the figure.
There was some criticism of the Lizard figure from the initial concept shots, and the way he is packed in the box also doesn’t instil confidence. I was, however, hugely surprised once I had him in hand and began working with the articulation to mimic the Lizard like movements rather than stand him up straight like a human. Once hunched and into a stalking position, he looks fantastic with the legs bent backwards and the body hunched, projecting the head front and centre.
Lizard is perfectly capable of crouching, kneeling and running hunched over - exactly as we see him in ASM2 and No Way Home. There are some ugly elements to the joints, the neck and tail connections being pretty visible from the rear, but all in all thee is a lot ot scope for your Spider-Man display.
The one thing the Lizard is guilty of is not having the right scale against Spider-Man himself. By choosing the Sauron body, Hasbro has limited themselves with the height and bulk of Lizard and that is somewhat undersized compared to what we see on screen in his two outings. When you look at any side-by-side fight scenes, Lizard’s head should be considerably larger than Andrew Garfield (as seen here), and Spidey should only really come up to Lizard’s mid chest - even when hunched.
The Lizard release is a fun addition to the No Way Home line. Please trust me when I say that the promo shots don’t do the figure too much justice and that there is sufficient articulation for plenty of poses that are more accurate and reflective of what we see on screen. The size issue is sadly not something you can ignore, and while Lizard will look OK in the background alongside Doc Ock and Goblin et al, he is a good inch or so too small when lined up against any of your Peter Parkers.
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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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