Toy Review: Uncanny Spider-Man Might Already Be Our 2026 Favorite

We get to continue our look at Marvel Legends retro card series with a completely new take on one — or is it two — of our favorite heroes.

One of the most unique concepts to come from the last five years of Marvel Comics was a seeming side story in the Fall of X era. As the villainous Orchis devastated Krakoa, the X-Men scattered across the globe, forming a resistance against them. The X-Men themselves went from lauded heroes to underground resistance fights. Iceman barely hung on thanks to a circuit with his super-powered boyfriend. Wolverine had to deal with threats from all sides as he fought to save his people. And one prominent X-Man took on a completely new identity.

The Uncanny Spider-Man is none other than X-Man Kurt Wagner, aka the amazing Nightcrawler. This is a mash-up that just makes so much sense. Kurt is one X-Man who deserves more of a center-stage role, a charming swashbuckler and hero who’s not just the heart of the X-Men but also one of their greatest leaders. So, placing him in webs and throwing him into the middle of Spider-Man’s world created one of the coolest X-Men/Spider-Man team-up stories to date.

And right away I love this figure.

The one design choice I dislike — the ears on his mask — is pulled straight from the comics design so I can’t fault Hasbro on that. Otherwise, this figure looks great. I love the ombre blend of the red on the end of his tail. Beyond that, this design is ripped completely from the comic. This figure uses the X-Men ‘97 Nightcrawler mold, and it’s a body mold that captures the character perfectly.

Accessories-wise, the only thing this figure is missing is an unmasked Kurt Wagner head (the one pictured is the extra head from my X-Men ‘97 Nightcrawler). The sword brings to life the sword Kurt used in the series, and I loved the teleportation cloud effect, which needs to be standard with every other Nightcrawler figure from here on out. It could have also used the Bamf that was his companion in the comic series, but honestly that was one of the weakest parts of the series so I’m fine going without that one.

As far as posing, this figure is absolutely perfect. I had so much fun with this figure. There need to be Spider-Men on this body because I was able to do absolutely everything I wanted to with the figure in hand, especially with the stand I’d 3D printed. It genuinely felt like the comic book character translated into a figure better than pretty much any other out there. The only area where it fell short at all is that the ankles were pretty stiff, even after the customary hot water bath I gave the figure.

All in all a damn near perfect figure, and one that’s going to be the centerpiece of my desk from here on out.