“Well, I could have stuck the landing a little better.”
The first curated releases from the Marvel Cinematic Universe outside of the main Legends waves came in 2018. The ‘First Ten Years’ sets marked the 10th Anniversary of the MCU and went on to fill several gaps in our collections with figures like Red Skull, Yellow Jacket, Crossbones, and more. The series was then renamed the 80th Anniversary series in 2019 and here, alongside comic book releases, we saw more new releases including Skurge, Ghost, and Peggy Carter. 2020's releases saw a switch to the Fox movies and a set of releases celebrating both the original X-Men movies and Deadpool. And then finally in 2021, these annual releases evolved again into the Infinity Saga collection, a series of figures celebrating the first three phases of the MCU and including a mix of re-releases, and new characters such as Quicksilver, Odin, and Obadiah Stane.
The Infinity Saga would go on to skip 2022 but returned in 2023 with a set of 8 figures from the first full arc of the MCU. The packaging’s square box shape is consistent with all the movie releases dating back to 2018, while the design for the Infinity Saga established in 2021 is continued with a black window box, reflective side artwork - which is the same on every released - and the use of the movie logo on the box front, and the movie poster on the rear alongside a small piece of supporting text.
Despite Spider-Man’s popularity among Marvel fans as a whole, and within the Cinematic Universe, his debut in Civil War was only been marked by a single-figure release. This was part of a Civil War 3-Pack alongside Captain America and Iron-Man. The figure would go on to be used as a base - with updated parts - for the Spider-Man: Homecoming releases, but the limited release for Civil War made that version more desirable on the secondary market. Considering this, the re-release of the Civil War Spider-Man as part of the Infinity Saga wave of 2023 is a good choice.
The figure uses the same body as was first released in 2016. This is predominantly cast in blue with red painted elements although some parts are reversed where red is the more prominent colour. Weblines are sculpted across the body, but not painted we only get the thicker black lines of the suit around the torso. The original did have painted weblines, so excluding them off a figure that is meant to be upgrading the original is a disappointment. The suit is finished with the Spider logos with a small sculpted version on the front painted in black and a larger red sculpted symbol on the back of the figure. Size wise the figure is small enough to represent high-school Peter as seen in Civil War and he scales accurately to other characters from Civil War in so much he is shorter than all of them.
The masked head is also carried forward from 2016 and like the suit is cast in red with sculpted - but unpainted - weblines and with the eyes lined in black and the visors painted white. The set follows suit with other figures from the same wave by adding in a new unmasked head. This Peter Parker head is taken from the more recent No Way Home wave but with some paint variation in the hair colour and with the Civil War version having a slightly different skin tone. It is a very good likeness to Tom Holland as you would expect from a more current head sculpt and facial printing application. There is a small question over proportions with the unmasked head larger than the masked - but it is not as noticeable as Captain America or Iron-Man from the same Infinity Saga wave.
Civil War Spider-Man only comes with two pairs of hands, providing a choice between clenched fists and web-slinging options. Both sets of hands are cast in red, and feature web line sculpting, but have no additional paintwork. Considering what other hands are available throwing in some wall-crawling options would have further enhanced this updated figure.
Articulation is impressive, even for an older figure. While it is pinned, there are 21 points of articulation with Spidey inclusive of butterfly shoulders and a waist swivel and ab crunch pairing on the torso. These all combine to provide Spider-Man with extensive movement and posing options including kneeling and crouching and - should you want to - web-swinging action via an action figure stand.
I never got the original Civil War Spider-Man and had always believed the Homecoming figure to be identical. Having now seen this re-release the differences, while minor, are clear to see from the web symbols front and back to some of the trims and weblines through the body. This 2023 re-release therefore fills a gap in my collection, and I suspect many others considering the limited availability of the original release through that damaged 3-pack. Including an unmasked head adds value and while it wasn't designed for this figure as such, they do pair really well.
Like so many of this wave, the Civil War Spider-Man goes just far enough but doesn’t take that leap into making it exceptional. Imagine this with a web effect and Cap’s shield. There is also questions over the paintwork of the web lines - one arguable downgrade from the original - and a limited set of hand options. Out of the eight releases in the 2023 Infinity Saga wave, this is the most popular in terms of sales - driven not only by it being a good quality release, but also as this truly is a figure people needed re-releasing considering the limited availability back in 2016 and now on the secondary market.
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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...