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Phase 4 of the MCU doesn’t seem like it’s likely to go down as anybody’s favorite, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe will keep chugging along, with this week’s Ant-Man 3 (Quantumania) hitting theaters this week. And as almost always, a new Marvel movie means a new themed wave of Hasbro action figures! The Ant-Man Marvel Legends 2023 Cassie Lang series is now up for order, featuring movie Ant-Man and Wasp figures, movie Kang, some Z-List comic villains and more!
The inaugural Ant-Man Legends Series of figures back in 2015 didn’t exactly set the world ablaze, so it wasn’t a jaw-dropper when the 6” MCU Ant-Man and the Wasp figures from the sequel were just sort of unceremoniously tossed into an Avengers wave. But Ant-Man’s star has risen again, and to coincide with the third entry in the movie franchise, Hasbro is poised to launch a whole Ant-Man wave this summer!
The case ratios for this lineup are as follows:
(2) Ant-Man [Movie]
(1) The Wasp [Movie]
(1) Kang the Conqueror [Movie]
(1) Ultron
(1) Crossfire
(1) Egghead
(1) Future Ant-Man
Build-A-Figure: Cassie Lang [Movie]
At a glance, some fans might write this off as a clearance bin bait wave. I think it might surprise some people, though, by having 4 hot figures in the wave and a desirable BAF to push the other 3.
Those “other 3” include at least 2 villains I never, ever thought would see the light of day on retail store shelves: Crossfire and Egghead.
The cyborg mercenary, Crossfire, is more of a “gray” character that fits between heroes and villains than a straight-up pure villain.
Perhaps best known for his sole appearance in a Scott Lang-centric episode of the Avengers Earth’s Mightiest Heroes cartoon, Marvel Legends Crossfire is likely to be mistaken for DC’s Deadshot by some fans who don’t look too closely. Plus, Crossfire comes with a cool rifle with effects piece and an all-important Cassie Lang leg. Hopefully, he doesn’t clog shelves this summer.
Joining Crossfire in the obscure villains wing will be the ultra-unlikely Marvel Legends Egghead figure. Another of Scott Lang’s greatest foes, the mad scientist Egghead had no powers beyond his scientific know-how, but still managed to have enough presence to appear in the second Ant-Man movie, a LEGO Marvel video game and several cartoons.
While I don’t know that the masses were exactly crying out for a $25 plastic Egghead, he’s still got a nice evil scientist look to him and the essential Cassie Lang BAF torso. I don’t think those factors will necessarily save him from being discounted by the end of the year, but I think there were still be many figures that bombed far worse than him.
I’m not really all that surprised to see a Marvel Legends Future Ant-Man Zayn Asghar figure in this wave, as Zayn is one of only a few characters to take on the Ant-Man mantle.
The Ant-Man of 2549, Zayn made his debut less than a year ago, making him among the fastest characters to ever get a Marvel Legends action figure. Even so, this figure gets no unhelmeted head and zero accessories of his own, making Future Ant-Man a rather bare-bones and basic release.
The fourth and final comic-based figure in this set is an updated comic Ultron figure. The Marvel Legends Ultron in the 2021 Iron Man Ursa Major wave was rather stupendous to begin with, so I’m not sure we needed this quasi-reissue quite so soon.
Along with a few Cassie Lang Build-A-Figure parts, this Ultron features an all-new head and a darker, more matte grey paint job. The 2021 Ultron was highly difficult for many collectors to find at retail, and was an excellent toy at that, so I don’t mind this almost-double dip by Hasbro here too much.
I thought the initial Marvel Legends Wasp movie figure was decent, but I’ll happily buy this new version from Hasbro. I prefer the new yellow secondary color to the gold of the last costume, and the new pin-less body looks tremendous.
The Evangeline Lilly portrait looks acceptable in the official photos, though Hasbro likenesses like that really need to be seen in person to be judged, in my opinion. This figure looks very promising overall, though, and one of the highlights of the wave for me.
I don’t know if Hasbro has quite nailed Paul Rudd, but I think this is their best effort at a portrait for him too with their new Scott Lang head.
The modern pin-less technology looks terrific on this new Ant-Man Legends figure, and looks to be an all-around upgrade over all prior versions Hasbro has done (even if he comes without any Build-A-Figure pieces).
Finally, we have the almost guaranteed most-wanted inclusion in this wave, the debut figure of movie Marvel Legends Kang the Conqueror (no, that awesome He Who Remains absolutely does not count).
While I’m bummed we’re not getting an “unmasked” Jonathan Majors head here (or basically any accessories beyond alt hands and Cassie heads), the Kang action figure itself looks tremendous. The colors, textures and sculpting details and head all look spot-on. As the supposed new big-bad of the MCU, I’m plenty pumped about this figure.
As mentioned previously, the Build-A-Figure for this wave is Scott’s daughter, Cassie Lang, who’s now old enough to Don her own superhero costume. I thought this character would be called Stinger (please, not “Stature”), but that’s obviously not being confirmed yet by these toys. I think this oversized figure makes complete sense as the Build-A-Figure to center the wave around, and I’m glad to see a female BAF for a change (it doesn’t happen very often at all). Thumbs up.
The 2023 Marvel Legends Ant-Man Quantumania series is now up for pre-order, and is estimated to arrive around July 2023. What figures in this wave will you be dropping some dollars on, Marvel collectors? Will Cassie be ensuring a whole wave purchase from -you-?