Spider-Man (Alien Costume)

Spider-Man's secret identity is James Sunderland? His costume damaged amid the chaos of the Secret Wars, Spider-Man encounters a mysterious glob that replaces his suit with an all-black one. Marvel's Secret Wars had a gimmick beyond the scope of its pages: the issues that came out the same month as Secret Wars #1 all ended with the hero walking into a mysterious portal; the next month, the issues that came out at the same time as Secret Wars #2 had the heroes return, with wild new changes and the explanation that you'd have to read the maxi-series to find out how and why that happened. Most writers absolutely punted on the opportunity, doing nothing of note. Honestly, the only things that actually changed in the wake of Secret Wars were She-Hulk joining the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man getting his black costume. This is not the first "half-symbiote" Spider-Man. There was the Minimate, of course, and ToyBiz made one in a 1997 FAO Schwarz exclusive two-pack, but this new one still tops the list. Not only because it's the first in the 6" scale and done on the Retro Collection body, but also because it's the first that's more than just a clever repaint. Most of it's done that way - the black costume is painted spreading across his chest, forming the new white logo as it goes - but the arms are new. The right are has a few rips actually molded into the cloth, rather than just being spots of pink paint (making twice now Hasbro has given us that), while the left arm... Rather than being smooth (or at least as smooth as a Spider-Man arm usually is), the left arm is sculpted with tendrils climbing all the way up it. And not just up, but sticking off it and waving in the open air, as well! That is a more modern take on the symbiote, it must be said: originally it was depicted like a liquid, moving like the equivalent of paint or oil; it was only much later that it began being depicted like sticky, grasping strands - first on Carnage, then retroactively applied to Venom, and from there adapted into live-action by Sam Raimi. But regardless, this makes for a more interesting toy. Even the head gets special treatment. It's a plain Spidey head, complete with sculpted eyes, and the bit of symbiote sliming its way up the side is a separate piece that's glued into place, giving it a nice feeling of depth. It's got his chin, and is reaching around the back of the head, and has even begin to cover the lens of his mask on that side. More little pieces of it whip and curl off the surface here, helping distract from the fact that the torso is completely smooth. The battle damage we get doesn't match what was seen in the comic. There were tears on his upper and lower arm, sure, but also on his waist, thigh, and collarbone, so there's a lot more they could have sculpted for him. We won't judge the toy too harshly for that, though, because even in panels that were literally next to each other, the artists didn't draw the rips consistently. The blue sections of his suit are also much darker than Secret Wars colored him, but it does look nice. The 3D tendrils are placed smartly, ensuring that they don't get in the way of any of the articulation. The toy moves at the toes, ankles, shins, knees, thighs, hips, waist, chest, wrists, elbows, biceps, shoulders, pecs, and head. They've carved a notch into the back of his neck, in an effort to give the barbell joint a fraction of what a hinge should accomplish, but it doesn't really work: it's not deep enough to actually let the head tip back, but if they cut any more, it would start to look weird and be noticeable. For crying out loud, Hasbro, just do a balljoint on a hinge! It's always worked for what you need it to. Half-Black Spidey doesn't get much in the way of accessories, just an alternate red thwip hand and an alternate splayed black hand. But thn there's also a small blob of goo, representing the symbiote when it first plopped out of the machine that was holding it. Does that technically make this a two-pack? We've never had a toy of the unattached baby symbiote before, ao that's kind of cool. It doesn't really go with this figure, of course - you'd need to give it to a plain Spider-Man. Or to Deadpool. And of course, like all the other figures in this line, he include a shield, a throwback reference to the original 1980s Mattel toyline, where all the heroes had circular shields and all the villains had square ones, and they could open up to put in lenticular cards that showed battle scenes. This one still includes a single card, but it just flips between Spider-Man, and Spider-Man with black gunk expanding onto his face. This is the type of accessory that will just get dumped in a box to be forgotten about, adding more value to the concept of the figure than it does to the reality. Anyone who's been collecting for a good length of time is surely going to have all the Spider-Men they could ever need, and minor improvements aren't really enough to make buying another one worthwhile. But this take on the character is unique, and will really stand out in the crowd. -- 10/07/26 Do you prefer liquid symbiote or tendril symbiote? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.