Zombie Scarlet Witch

What If... Zombies!? Infected by the zombie virus sweeping the globe, Wanda Maximoff is kept in captivity by her former lover, the Vision. Man, this series really hit the zombies episode hard, didn't it? There are nine episodes in the first season, and so far 15 Marvel Legends based on it; of those, five are based on the zombie world. In perfect parity, ⅓ of the available figures would be based on ⅓ of the episodes, yeah? Even if we drop Episode 3, "What If... the World Lost its Mightiest Heroes?" (because the designs aren't drastically different from the normal universe), and the Watcher (because he's in every episode) from our expectations, that's still 14 figures and eight episodes, so basing five of them on one source is undeniably lopsided. Of course, the reason for that is not hard to guess: if Episode 3 gets skipped because nobody looks different, Episode 5 gets leaned on because everybody looks so different. Hawkeye being poisoned? Meh. Hawkeye becoming a zombie? Hell yeah! Just like we've seen with other zombie designs, Wanda is far less disfigured than the boys are: Cap and Iron Man had holes all the way through their mouths, were missing noses, all that, but Wanda... gets dark circles under her eyes. Why are we worrying about whether the zombies are pretty enough, guys? The bulk of this figure is the same Scarlet Witch mold we already had twice: boots, jeans, corset. The coat she's wearing has been redone, to make the lower half tattered and torn, and the arms are new as well, because they have matching rips that allow her blue skin to poke through. (There are similar rips on the legs, but those are just easy paint apps, while the arms have sculpted edges.) You could make the case that Wanda is less destroyed than the guys are because Vision has been taking care of her, protecting her from the sorts of environmental hazards the others have been exposed to, but then what's up with her coat? Is it made of tissue paper? She didn't get zombified because someone bit her in the jacket. Zombie Scarlet Witch has the same articulation the mold always has: balljointed head; hinged neck; swivel/hinge shoulders, elbows and wrists; balljointed torso; balljointed hips; swivel thighs; double-hinged knees; and swivel/hinge ankles. The knees are rather gummy, which is a particular problem for this specific figure. To portray her powers, her hair is billowing out around her head like she's just tapped into the Phoenix Force or something. Tired: being evil makes you dress slutty. Wired: being evil makes your hair big. It's so giant and wild that it makes the figure want to fall over backwards if she's not balanced well, a situation exacerbated by the soft knees. Her only accessories are translucent magenta, and she includes the left leg of Khonshu, this series' Build-A-Figure. The giant hair would make a good look, but as an option: give us this, sure, but also a plain head for when she's not going crazy. Use the same facial mold even, and just change the hair. She wasn't always swirling with energy, after all. -- 01/17/23

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