Marvel Legends Spider-Man Noir Review (and Mod Tutorial)

I want to apologize in advanced. I really like to customize or modify my action figures, and I couldn’t wait to modify my Spider-Man Noir shortly after getting him. But don’t worry, I’ll be covering the differences as I go.

Spider-Man Noir is a Spider-Man variant I’ve wanted since I was first introduced to the character in the video game “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions”. It’s great to finally have him in hand! While I think he’s not bad as he is, I think with a few modifications, he can become something really great, and I hope you’ll agree with me.

Spider-Man Noir has a really nice sculpt! He shares his base body with the AIM Agents that were introduced in the Marvel Legends line back in 2014, and subsequently used for comic Star-Lord and Ghost Rider. However, he does get some new parts; namely new legs from below the knee on down, a new belt with holster, a new neck/collar, and a new head. I love the stitching on his mask; little details like that go a long way with me. His coat has been reused from several Nicky Fury and Punisher figures, but it looks nice on him! However, I had a huge problem with his arms, since I don’t feel that they looked at all like coat sleeves; and why would they, seeing as they were reused from the Rhino Build-A-Figure Series Ghost Rider figure from back in 2015. The following section of text will cover how I modified them, so if you don’t feel like fixing or modifying your Spider-Man Noir, feel free to skip to where I cover the accessories.

I began by heating up the biceps with a hairdryer for a few minutes before popping them off. Now, you can use two different sets of arms, depending which works better for you. I happened to have extra movie Nick Fury arms from the 2015 Agents of SHIELD 3-pack which was exclusive to Toys R Us, but you can also use the recently released Netflix Punisher arms, too, which are also easily removed at the bicep joints. I then proceeded to remove the movie Nick Fury arms in much the same fashion as I did for the Spider-Man Noir arms. I then applied more heat to the Nick Fury movie arms and they easily popped on to the peg on the Spider-Man Noir shoulder-ball pegs. I then heated and removed the hands from the Fury arms with needle nose plyers; it’s important to not just pull the hands out, as the hands could snap from the pegs. Make sure the hands are heated enough, and then with the plyers, grip the necessary hand above and below the wrist’s disc and gently pull until it pops out. Do the same with the other hand, as well as Spider-Man Noir’s hands. I then reheated Fury’s forearms and popped Spider-Man Noir’s hands into the peg holes so that he would be able to hold both of his guns. And there you have it! Now I feel that Spider-Man looks much better and accurate with his new coat sleeves. Seeing what was supposed to be coat sleeves tucked into gloves didn’t make sense to me (see the pics of Ghost Rider below, since they are the same mold as the Spider-Man Noir arms); it didn’t help that the arms looked thin and somewhat tiny, either.

Spider-Man Noir comes with two blasters… for some reason. When recently asked why Hasbro seems to favor not giving figures real guns, Dwight Stahl of the Marvel team said he prefers giving figures blasters and oddly colored weaponry unless a character that is known for them, like the Punisher, requires actual guns. I can’t say that I agree or even see the logic behind the answer, so it does make one wonder if there’s more to it than that. Anywho, he has two blasters, yet he only has one holster on his belt. Again, being a customizer, this didn’t sit well with me, and I had to fix this. I ended up taking a revolver from the Rhino Series’ Misty Knight figure and painting the gold part shiny black; the revolver fits snugly into his holster. I also gave him the Chameleon’s Tommy gun, and I have to think that now he looks much more like someone out of the 1930’s (which is where this alternate universe Spider-Man hails from). Finally, he comes with the left arm for the Lizard Build-A-Figure. I can’t help but feel that a removable hat or interchangeable head with sculpted hat would have gone a long way to add to his value, so it’s something I may consider sculpting for him down the road; the ones I’ve seen customized for him look really good.

Spider-Man Noir has 30 points of articulation. He has a ball-jointed head, neck hinge, shoulder swivels and hinges (which I admit don’t get the best range of motion, due in part to the coat), bicep swivels, double-jointed elbows, wrist swivels and hinges, ab crunch, waist swivel, hip rotation, thigh swivels, double-jointed knees, ankle pivots, and ankle hinges. It kind of baffles me as to why the thigh swivels were omitted here, especially when he got new parts from the knees down. Spider-Punk got them added, so why not Spider-Man Noir? Very odd, indeed.

Spider-Man Noir is okay as he is. His default arms and guns are lacking, but with a little time and effort, you can make him the real standout of your Spider-Verse shelf.

The Marvel Legends Lizard Build-A-Figure Series has been hitting stores like Walgreens and Target for two months, but you can also try other avenues like Amazon or Hasbro Toy Shop (I got mine from Dorkside Toys). He does, however, seem to be one of the more desired figures in the wave and seems to sell out fast, so if you see him, you may just want to grab him right away before he’s gone.