“She’s entangled our light based powers”
Monica Rambeau’s Photon made her Marvel Legends debut in July 2023 as part of a trio of releases from The Marvels. The movie had been pushed back from its original Summer release slot into November, putting the figures onto shelves a good 4 months ahead of the movie. Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, The Marvels did not receive a full wave of figures - nor did we get an MCU Build-a-Figure like Quatumania. The figures were released within a comic-book-themed wave with four other comic-book-based figures and a 'Totally Awesome' Hulk build-a-figure.
The 'Totally Awesome' Hulk BAF wave was in production before the reversal to window boxes so arrives in plastic-free packaging with the figure illustrated on the front and back, with the BAF checklist moving to the left-hand spine, leaving the right to carry the character illustration. The box design remains standard with the scooped sides, hanging tab, and black base colour - while specific elements for The Marvels include the logo, the blue energy background for the figure art, and some gold, blue, red, and white tramlines offset to the main panel - paying homage to each of the main characters.
Monica is wearing her new ‘Photon’ suit presented on Aladna and then worn through the movie’s finale. This is more or less a full black plastic cast body, with white painted paneling around the torso and down each of the arms and legs. Where the white is painted over the black base there is a definite dulled finish. In contrast, the white areas of the midsection and arms are very crisp as here the main body part is cast in white and the black is overpainted. There is a central Photon symbol sculpted as a relief on Monica’s chest and this is painted out in silver. The suit gets further variation with gloss black used on the boots and shoulder panels.
The head sculpt is a very strong likeness to actor Teyonah Parris with added realism applied via the photo-real face print technology. The hair is also well executed as an individual piece and while it is left in the base plastic colour, the depth of sculpt allows light and shadow to create depth. The overall look for Photon is well proportioned and specific to the actor rather than ‘borrowing’ parts from Captain Marvel herself considering the suits are quite similar in design other than the colour.
Photon is sadly let down with accessories, coming only with a pair of clenched fists to alternate with the opening hands that are in place on her arrival. These open hands are very much screaming out for some powered effects to reflect Photon’s light powers - even if that had been a translucent white version of the standard ‘magic’ effects that are often used on magic-wielding or powered individuals
Articulation is ok but not as extensive as some other more recent releases. There are 18 points in total, all pinless, and with double joints on the elbows and knees. Photon does however miss out on any obvious butterfly shoulders, she also only gets a single torso ball joint and a single neck joint. There is sufficient here for a number of posing options, but do be mindful that the lines of the suit are soon misaligned when any leg posing comes into play. Monica is perfectly stable when posed.
As one of the three stars of The Marvels, Photon always needed a figure, and the decision to release her in what we assume is her MCU suit going forward is a good one vs the more casual clothes we see her in before reaching Aladna. The execution of the suit is pretty accurate and let down slightly by the variations of white between the cast white parts and painted white parts. Our review version that we purchased also included some disappointing paint errors including silver from her chest emblem spilled onto the black. The biggest issue is a lack of accessories, something that is starting to become more widespread with the Legends MCU releases in particular. Monica really needed some form of powered effects piece to reflect her ability to use light powers - particularly considering what is included with the other two Marvels figures in the wave. While Photon has some small issues, the overall figure is pretty strong for a debut character. The display options are also enhanced with the ability to recreate The Marvels movie poster with the other two figures from the wave for display.
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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...