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So, does she come from desert planet Tanaka 5?
After fighting many battles with the Guardians of the Galaxy, the once quiet Mantis is ready to open up, embrace her powers, and settle into her new home on Knowhere.
Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 doesn't waste any time in reaffirming that not only were the events of The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special canon, they mattered: no longer was Mantis just a hanger-on, but a full member of the team. The character spends most of her time hanging out with Drax, which makes sense: both of them, in the comics, were originally humans who got changed and drawn into cosmic affaris, but in the movies are fully alien from the start (unless the MCU is trying to say that German-Vietnamese people have a larval stage?). Plus, her naiveté and his literal-mindedness make them feel like a pair of kids, which makes for a good dynamic when they play off each other.
This figure uses the same head as BAF Mantis, which isn't surprising: they've already got a mold with her antennae and giant eyelashes, so why would they waste time making another? She didn't start out with antennae in the comics: there, it was just a hairstyle, meant to further the insectoid theme in her name; later she wore a headband that had similar features, and eventually she just started being drawn with them as a part of her anatomy. Unlike the Build-A-Figure, this one has eyes that aren't solid black - they're still as dark as the movie, but there's some detail to be seen this time.
Because she's wearing the Guardians' new team uniform,
Mantis gets a new sculpt. Even her hands, which are in the same poses as the BAF's (left hand relaxed, right hand pointing two fingers) are new, because the fingerless gloves she's wearing are a different style with more details molded on. In the comics when she wore this uniform, it was really just the jacket: she wore it over her regular skirt, presumably because she likes skirts? She's one of reality 616's greatest martial artists, so movement would be paramount; she's still a fighter in the MCU, but uses her psychic abilities more, so pants wouldn't be as much of an encumbrance for her.
The uniform is a dark blue with red trim,
though not the big red Captain America gloves like the comic showed: if you have a superb memory and eye for detail, you may recall we already said she's wearing fingerless gloves. Black ones. The gold symbol in the center of the chest is the team's insignia; it's even on top of all the toys' packaging.
GotG3 shows an expansion of the fighting style Mantis utilized against Thanos in Infinity War (lots of jumping on people and mind-whammying them), so having all the regular articulation is suitable for her: she moves at the ankles, boots, knees, thighs, hips, chest, wrists, elbows, biceps, neck, and head. Her hair means her head doesn't move very far at all - since the hair is a separate piece glued into the head, it would have been nice if they'd maybe done an alternate one in an "action" pose like her hair was whipping around as she moved. Then we'd be able to get her into appropriately wild stances.
Mantis has no accessories, not even alternate hands. The only thing we get is the right rear leg of Cosmo, the GOOD DOG Build-A-Figure.
Mantis has grown a lot since her rather icky treatment in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, so even if she's still not as powerful as she is in the comics (none of the Guardians are, honestly), she's still an impressive toy and looks good in her space uniform.
-- 05/09/23
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