Toy Review: Marvel Legends Secret Wars Magik Is An Interesting Mix Of Highs & Lows

by Tony Thornley

Illyana Rasputin has risen in prominence to become one of the most key X-Men in the franchise, showing up in multimedia projects from movies to video games. Hasbro now starts to catch up with Magik’s prominence, giving fans a Marvel Legends figure based on her classic look.

Illyana Rasputina first appeared in one of the most famous single issues in comics history — Giant-Size X-Men #1 — when her brother Colossus used his mutant powers to save her from farm equipment run wild. She would continue to be in the team’s orbit off and on for several years, until Arcade’s assistant kidnapped her in the lead up to Uncanny X-Men #150.

The team rescued her, and she stayed in Piotr’s care. But in Uncanny X-Men #160, she vanished for a moment, then reappeared as a teenager, with mutant teleportation powers and increasing skill in sorcery. About a year later, the limited series Magik revealed what happened in that gap — showing how the demon lord Belasco kidnapped her and trained her in magic — and eventually she went on to join the cast of The New Mutants.

From that point Illyana became a key member of the team, rescued herself from Limbo and erased her teenage self from the universe, contracted the Legacy Virus, died, and was resurrected as a lord of Limbo decades later. Since her resurrection, she’s been a key member of the main X-Men teams, with virtually no gaps in her tenure on the team.

I have another Magik figure based on her most recent appearances, as designed by Chris Bachalo. This is based on her New Mutants tenure. Though she didn’t appear on Battleworld, theming it with the 1980s Secret Wars event (and action figure line) fits. And from the design, this figure embodies that ’80s Illyana. She’s got the training uniform, her armored arm, and even the distinct hairdo. She looks pitch perfect.

I also really dig the accessories. The soulsword is fantastic. Many would use a claymore or broadsword, but this looks more like a Chinese Jian or Russian Norman sword. The extra hands are solid, and I like the power effect, which can fit both the sword or her arm. I think the only thing it’s missing is an alternate head, with a non-neutral expression on her face.

The posing is where this figure struggles. Hasbro’s default female body buck just doesn’t have a lot of room to pose. It’s simply not very agile, meaning basic standing poses look good, but any action poses beyond that just don’t. I got a bunch of solid poses out of the figure, but I couldn’t get many dynamic ones (I’m including some of my rougher pics to show exactly how that went). Also, her hair is fairly inflexible, so the head doesn’t move tons.