REVIEW: Hasbro's Spider-Man 3 VENOM (with Capture Web)

The Spider-Man 3 toys are making a big splash at the big toy retailers, with a massive presence at Toys R Us and Target especially. The main figure line consists of many versions of the hero and various enemies from the movie and the comic books. One of the initial releases is Venom (with Capture Web!).

The packaging for the Spider-Man 3 line is bright and colorful, but most of all it’s large! The card is a foot tall, and the bubble takes up the entire front of it. On the left hand side is an insert of Spider-Man jumping from a tall building. The bottom provides the figure’s name. This leaves the upper-right section to show off the figure, in an exciting action pose. While this packaging is dynamic, it’s hard to ignore the fact that it’s almost all empty space. The back of the card describes the character at the top, with photos of it in action. At the bottom are other figures in the action figure line.

Venom’s sculpt is quite good, though not always consistent. The “skin” of the enormous chest is flat, and covered by webbing in the shape of a spider. This pattern of flat flesh covered in web lines continues on the arms, abdomen, and lower legs. The upper legs, however, are different. Oddly, the skin there is pocked and textured, with no webs.

Venom’s head is oblong and ugly. The “eyes” are large and jagged, the mouth oversized and wide open, and the tongue monstrously elongated. It sticks out the equivalent of about a foot. There is a great deal of exposed musculature and sinew in the jaws. Finally, Venom’s fingers are tipped with claws.

Venom is a solid deep purple color, under a gray webbing. The webs cover the entire body except for the upper legs, and on the chest and back form large spider symbols. The eyes and the teeth are the same gray color, and the tongue is flesh-colored. The coloring perfectly matches Venom’s look from the movie, and indeed from his comic book appearance.

Venom is very articulated, though not quite super-articulated. He has the following articulation: ball-jointed neck, ball-jointed shoulders, double-hinged elbows, rotating wrists, ball-jointed torso, ball-jointed hips, and ball-jointed AND hinged knees. Of particular note are the double-jointed knees, the upper sections of which are covered by the figure’s thighs to hide them. The only noticeably lacking joints are ankles and rotating forearms, and many of the ball-joints are somewhat obstructed.. So, while Venom can achieve a wide variety of poses, he is slightly limited in relation to other truly super-articulated figures.

Venom has one accessory, the symbiote attack web (also called capture web). This is a black rubber web with hooks and open sections in which to trap other figures. It is appropriately jagged and hooked, evil-looking for the villainous monster.

Venom isn’t perfect, but he’s really good. The sculpt is really cool, with lots of detail, especially in the webbing and the head/jaws. He is big, strong, and scary-looking. For a Spider-Man or movie collection especially, Venom is highly recommended.

Review and Images by Scott Rubin