Hasbro Talks Upcoming Marvel Legends Plans

Because Marvel Studios acted particularly secretive about future plans prior to Comic-Con, Hasbro didn’t reveal a lot of future movie figures. The only one, in fact, is a repack of the Civil War Giant Man build-a-figure. But rest assured, the studio has kept them in the loop. For example, the Taskmaster revealed in the Black Widow trailer did not come as a huge surprise, and we can probably expect an action figure in timely fashion. “We were well-versed and prepped to be developing towards Black Widow and Eternals,” says senior product design manager Dwight Stall. Still, most upcoming Marvel Legends plans look comic-based in the next year.

An unnamed Spring wave, presumed to be Fantastic Four-related based on its two reveals so far, delivers Doctor Doom and She-Hulk. Both feature impressive original sculpts, and I’m told we shouldn’t rule out a Doctor Doom who can sit on a throne somewhere down the line. Also in Spring, a Spider-Man Legends wave includes comic-based Vulture, comic Shang-Chi, Spider-Armor Spidey, and PS4 Velocity Suit Spidey. An X-Men wave out at the same time will be Age of Apocalypse themed, with future Weapon X Logan, X-Man, and Morph. And a Deadpool wave coming in Fall unveiled only its build-a-figure: Strong Guy.

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That’s far from everything. The “rides” series expands with Squirrel Girl on a scooter and Cosmic Ghost Rider. (I asked if horses, like Valkyrie’s, could feature in the future of the line, but Stall says that might have to sell as a larger price-point item.) Dani Moonstar will be a Walgreens exclusive. Various other exclusives include a new Punisher, Deathlok repainted for X-Force, a Havok/Polaris 2-pack, a Cyclops/Jean/Wolverine three-pack, and Deadpool in a suit paired with Hit-Monkey.

You might notice that ’90s X-Men have been dominating the selections lately, and that’s due to both designers and collectors.

“People love that Jim Lee team; they want to finish all those 90’s X-Men,” says master model artist Tony Colella. “And it’s a personal favorite of us, as well. Just to be able to put out these characters that we love, and that you guys love, and as many as we have this year is special.”

About that Fall Deadpool wave: we have higher hopes after hearing that Fox movie-based figures could happen. There was never an official ban as such in place, but “something that was not previously discussed much around the office,” per Stall. Now, he says they are looking into it. “I’ve never had the opportunity to work on a Hugh Jackman Wolverine,” he notes. “That would definitely be a bucket-list figure for me to work on.”

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Speaking of non-MCU movies, a year ago I asked Stall about a Tom Hardy Venom figure, and he said they would wait to see the film’s reception. I asked Stall again this year if he felt it had met the threshold.

“I think that was a very popular movie, yes!” replied Stall. “We’re not talking about Venom today, but stay tuned. There’s an opportunity for us to dive into more Venom-verse stuff in the near future.” Colella would also like to see more animated Spider-Verse offerings.

With the unveiling of “Lebowski Thor” at the Hasbro press breakfast, I had to ask if they could make Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane, to help fans create a Big Lebowski custom. Stall laughed, and flagged down another Hasbro employee. “There you go, Ryan, you heard it here first. An Obadiah figure!” We’ll see how that goes, but last year I did ask for Korg, and he’s on shelves now, so they do listen.

Which Marvel figures do you want to see from Hasbro? Let us know in comments below, and check out our slideshow of all their Comic-Con reveals.