Across the Spiderverse turned out to be one of the better Super Hero movies for 2023. The story is alright, but it's really the art direction and overall energy of the movie that is making it the success story that it is. The first one wasn't exactly half bad either, so it's no surprise that several companies announced figure releases from the get go, which included of course, Bandai and its S.H. Figuarts line. I've ordered all three offerings (Miles, Gwen, and MIguel) with Miles and Gwen released so far. They've actually been out for a while now, but were delayed in arriving here as I waited for my Chun Li to be released.
The two figures are actually very similar, closer than you'd think. Prices on the two were about the same, and as a result contents are nearly identical. Identical items in both sets include:
- 1 x Main Figure
- 1 x Unmasked Head Adapter
- 10 x Posing/Gripping Hands
- 3 x Web Effects (Short, Long, and Web Line for grabbing)
- 1 x Tool
- 1 x Base and Stand
The main difference in content is that Miles has alternate mask lenses rather than a complete separate head for an alternate expression in costume, and while Miles comes with a neutral and smiling unmasked head, Gwen only comes with the one. Gwen also has an accessory that replicates her hood down look, which you'll probably be using even with the masked head as the hood affects range of motion.
I feel Bandai did a pretty good job at capturing that very unique silhouette that both Miles and Gwen have. It's not perfect, but it's certainly much closer than other companies have come. I also never noticed much much junk was in Gwen's trunk, at least by comparison to poor Miles. Both figures feature a stippled texture on most of the body, like what I've seen on the Black Widow figures replicating a texture on nylon. The two masked heads also look pretty accurate, though lets be honest its not exactly like they're pushing the boundaries of what modern technology can accomplish.
Unmasked heads are pretty good, though I feel the most accurate looking one is the smiling Miles. The other two are generally there, but Gwen looks like she has squished facial features, and neutral Miles, to me, has inaccurate eyes.
From an articulation perspective, both do a really good job at letting you do whatever pose you're thinking of. I would say this is also one of the few times you get a stand so you can actually get those mid air poses in as well, but I couldn't pop the caps off the thing to get it to work - I guess this is also a good time to mention you can technically pop a cap off the back of each figure, remove the claw arm, and plug the stand directly into the figure like with a Figma. But, the sheer assortment of joints, including an actual waist, butterfly shoulders, double jointed knees and elbow, and a pull down waist certainly help to maximize the range of motion. Ultimately, its the actual limbs themselves that limit range of motion.
While posing is very similar, balance is not. Due to her larger feet, a normal sized ankle, and thicker legs, Gwen has a much easier time with standing poses, where as due to the longer feet and longer arms, Miles can be put into crouching poses much easier.
The one strange difference in articulation, is that Gwen can arch her back much more than Miles can. This effectively means that while Gwen can do more eloquent poses (like twerking), Miles unfortunately cannot do it convincingly.
Paint apps are minimal, as always. There's obvious spots here and there (just imagine what the minimal work needed would be), but overall I'd have to say the parts with the most paint work is the unmasked heads. The stuff on the body is pretty good. Smoothly applied, sharp. Paint work on the mask lenses is also nicely done. The unmasked heads are generally well done, but I guess the QC gods frowned upon me as the smiling Miles head had a nice chip on the forehead.
Build wise, it's hard to say if there's a real problem. Basically, it comes down to the elbows and knees being flimsy - I'm talking classic Hasbro softness, which sucks, but at least it didn't come warped right out the box. Having said that, this is also a very unique situation - the arms, and especially legs, are slimmer than anything else in my collection, which of course translates into slimmer joints. Even my slimmest Figma has chunkier knees than these two. I don't imagine that Bandai used an inferior plastic for joints compared to their other figures, so this might just be a reality of this design.
The unique aesthetic of these two, and the entire Spiderverse can to be honest, certainly make a great addition to your figure stash. They all just look so.. different, but in an awesome way. It's just unfortunate that you're really going to be wanting to use a stand with these, Miles in particular. I suspect that the Sentinel version might have a slightly better build and maybe a few extra accessories, but to me the price difference (because there's always a difference) isn't worth it, plus recent photos of their Gwen have had people losing their minds (in the bad way). The Marvel Legends versions don't have that aesthetic accuracy. All things considered, the Figuarts versions are probably the best balanced... fiscally, not on their two feet.
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