Agent Venom

A "retro" figure from 2011. When Flash Thompson bonds with an alien parasite suit, he's granted spider-like powers as Agent Venom. What are the Vegas odds against the preppie jerk who picks on Tom Holland's Peter Parker somehow getting the dollop of symbiote goo left behind by Eddie Brock in No Way Home's post-credits scene? Probably not very good, right? The comics have had a lot more time to turn an unlikeable bully into an actual hero, though, making the change gradually rather than having to force it in the span of two hours. He got drafted to the Army, came home and got his dreams of a sports career ruined when Hobgoblin blew him up, became a sad drunk, became a high school gym teacher, re-enlisted in the Army, heroically lost his legs, and the government gave him the harvested Venom symbiote as a thank-you. As Agent Venom, Flash could only use the symbiote for 48 hours before it would bond to him permanently. He did stealth missions for the US government, and in time even joined the Thunderbolts, then the Avengers, then the Guardians of the Galaxy. But that's much later - this is vintage, earthbound Agent Venom, with his plain Earth look. There was an Agent Venom Marvel Legend before, but it was a Walgreens exclusive more than a decade ago. It also reused an older ToyBiz mold, while this one is entirely new! And it's obviously specifically made for Flash, with all his spikes and armor plates and ribbed panels and whatnot. The suit's undergone minor cosmetic tweaks under different artists, naturally, but this toy looks like it's based on Lan Medina's work circa Venom #18. The white spider symbol is raised above the chest and totally smooth, while even the "undetailed" areas of the black sections get a bit of a texture to them. Nice, nice work! The reason we pin this down to such a specific issue is because he revealed his identity to someone in that issue, and this figure comes with an unmasked head. (Technically it comes with the head on right in the tray, we just didn't mention it until now.) His hair's pretty shaggy for a guy who still thought of himself as a military man, but the only other Agent Venom who's ever had this feature is the Minimate, so it's cool Hasbro included it. Being a new sculpt, Agent Venom's articulation is not as good as it should be - apparently charging $7 more than the product would actually be worth isn't enough to give us any shin swivels. Not that this sculpt would accommodate actual shins, but they could have put a swivel immediately above the ankle under the lower edge of the shin guards. The rest of the movement is fine, though only having a balljoint for the chest and no other torso articulation isn't the best we've seen lately. His big shoulder pads are designed to move with the arm, so that's a plus. The figure comes with clawing hands, trigger hands, and fists, and they're all new molds with the white panels on the back sculpted, and with sharp fingers. They're also some of the smoothest swaps I can remember a figure ever having! His guns are reused from Forge, and the pistol can fit in the holster on his left leg. He does not, sadly, come with the tendril backpack thing the old figure had - and he doesn't have a hole in his back, so you can't even borrow it to give this one an upgrade. Poop! Agent Venom's previous release was quite good, but this one is better. It has some shortcomings in its articulation and its accessories, but it tries to make up for those in other ways. Now we begin the countdown to the inevitable mold-reusing repaint. -- 04/14/25 Do you think we'll get a Thunderbolts or Agent Anti-Venom version first? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.