Marvel Crisis Protocol – Earth’s Mightiest Core Set Heroes and Villains

We gave a first introduction on Earth's Mightiest for Marvel Crisis Protocol and now we want to take a closer look on the miniatures that come with the Core Set.

Within the 149 EUR set, that covers rules, terrain and miniatures, you get two large sprues for the heroes and villains, along with 16 bases (4 large ones, 12 small ones).

The models have only minor mould lines and proper crisp casting of the details. The space within the sprue was used in a clever way. Really interesting is the aspect, that parts of the mould were slid-moulds, to reduce the undercuts and make them even more detailed.

The bases have an interesting addition to their sprues, as you get small bits of terrain, like cans or bottles, to add to the base decoration.

The set of characters is the same in both the old and new core set, but with updated sculpts. In most cases they got more dynamic poses and we begin with Steve Rogers / Captain America, included here as The First Avenger. There are further Captain America variants available, the "classic" Captain America, fighting in the WW2-era and Captain America, with the Sam Wilson Alter-Ego.

The character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and was introduced in his own comic series, Captain America Comics #01, in 1941. The backstory is simple, during World War II, Steve Rogers, deemed unfit for military service received super-soldier serum in medical trials and became America's Fighting Hero. He fell into the Atlantic Ocean, where he was frozen for decades until the was re-discovered and brought back to live decades later and becoming the leader of The Avengers.

 

The model was changed from his shield throwing pose to a power stance, with a slightly lifted left leg. I went with a base that had a raised portion left out the small stone he's standing on. Assembly was quick, just make sure that the neck part properly aligns with the head without leaving a gap.

The next character is the Winter Soldier, Operative created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as well and introduced in the same issue as Captain America, in Captain America Comics 1941. But the character was heavily transformed due to a complex character arc. The Alter Ego James "Bucky" Barnes went from young side kick to become the Winter Soldier.

He was believed to be dead near the end of the war and vanished just like Captain America. But the truth was, that he was found and brainwashed by the Soviets and they made him the Winter Soldier, a deadly assassin, who was sent on secret missions. Later his memory returned and he was torn between the two sides he fought for. As such he is very flexible and would fit both villains and heroes. He is affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D.

The model got more dynamic and the pose presents his artificial arm more prominently. He has the option between two different heads, I went with the face mask, as this looks more dangerous than the racoon mask.

In 1964, in Issue 52 of Tales of Suspense, Madame Natasha, who would later become Natasha Romanoff, The Black Widow, saw her first appearance. The character was created by Stan Lee, Don Rico and Don Heck, and she was a former Russian KGB agent from the star, later to be trained by the Red Room, as part of the Black Widow program to become the ultimate super spy. Natasha would later defect the Soviet Union towards the United States of America to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and eventually become a member of The Avengers. There is a variant of the character as Black Widow, Agent of Shield (as part of a double pack with Hawkeye).

Black Widow got a very dynamic upgrade. She tears an Ultronbot in half with a knee punch, and the model is more stable than you would expect at the beginning. The way the parts are cut to make this pose possible is very impressive, yet this is one of the models that might be difficult to paint, as the face is a small surface and she has delicate details.

With Captain Marvel, we actually get two miniatures, to show both the Normal and Binary variant of the character. In this set, she is included as Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger as her Alter Ego Carol Danvers. The character of Captain Marvel was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan and had his first appearance in Marvel Super Heroes #12 in 1967. The name Captain Marvel is the name of several superheroes over the time and began as Mar-Vell, an alien military officer of the Kree Imperial Militia. Carl Danvers became Ms. Marvel in the comic of the same name in 1977 when her DNA was fused with Mar-Vell's in an explosion and would later become the 7th Captain Marvel. She is affiliated with A-Force and The Avengers.

The regular model is very close to the old model, but both Binary and Normal variant got a stronger Super Hero pose and jump off an energy blast. And just like with the Black Widow, I was quite surprised about the stability of the dynamic poses.

Next one is Tony Stark as Invincible Iron Man. There is an option as Hulkbuster available in MCP as well, but as Iron Man he is affiliated with The Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D.

The character of the genius inventor and billionaire was created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, Don Heck and Jack Kirby, with his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39, in 1962. The back story is quickly explained, Tony was kidnapped by local terrorists during a visit to a manufacturing plant in a foreign country. During captivity he engineered a powerful suit of armour as a way for him to escape. Once he returned back to Stark Industries, he upgraded the suit further and became Iron Man.

 

The poses of both V1 and V2 are very similar, but the new 2023 model uses the Mark VI suit, with the triangular energy field on his chest, while the 2019 model  seems to be the Mark VII suit, with the silver pieces and golden stripes on the sides of the chest plate. In both cases he is pointing he palms of his hand towards the enemy, but the updated model uses a levitation similar to Captain Marvel. Beyond that, with all the different marks and prototypes, there is an insane number of variants possible for this character, at least design wise.

And the final hero from this bunch is Spectacular Spider-Man / Peter Parker. There are quite a bunch of spider-people in Marvel Crisis Protocol, but only a second Peter Parker with the Amazing Spider-Man. And he is affiliated with The Defenders as well as the Web-Warriors.

The teenage super hero was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962 and saw his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy issue 15. With so many reboots, the back story should be as well-known as Batman's. Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider and gets his superhuman spider-power afterword, that include among others superhuman strength, agility and reflexes, along with clinging to surfaces and detecting danger with his precognition spider-sense.

 

The pose got much more dynamic, and while the old 2019 is "just" shooting a web towards someone or something, the new pose of the Spectacular Spider-Man is actually fighting a symbiont as part of his base decoration. While he is connected to the base quite sturdily, the falling web string could be prone to breaking, so you want to keep that in mind, when you transport him. Beyond that, the model is cleverly designed and cut in a way, that it has details in all directions, without the problems of injection moulding and undercuts.

This gives us a total of 7 heroes, including to two variants of Captain Marvel.

Let us move on towards the Villains, and begin with Ultron. He can be used as an Ultimate Encounter as well, and the evil artificial intelligence was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema in 1968, in was introduced as an enemy in First Avengers issue 54.

In the Marvel Universe, the character of Ultron was created by Dr. Hank Pym, initially intended to be a supporting A.I. designed to better society, but once self-conscious, he rebelled against his creator, viewing humanity as a threat to its own existence and came a long-time villain of the Avengers.

 

The pose of Ultron became more "evil overlord" with the new edition. Using the levitation above a blast like many other models in this kit, they added a cape and more dominating, less dynamic pose for Ultron. The cloak is an issue, as it will be prone to damage. Depending on your ways to store / transport him, I'd think about angling the cloak toward the bottom instead of floating away behind him.

He is accompanied by some Ultronbots and the design of the model is impressive. It is a crowded feel, but that makes them so on spot a threat. And I really like how they are connected to each other. A really clever design. Further Ultronbots are scattered across the terrain pieces. Really nice idea and as written above, well designed.

With Baron Helmut Zemo, we have one of three Hydra characters in this set. Making them a perfect enemy of Captain America. So, it is no surprise, that this villain, who was created by Roy Thomas, Tony Isabelle and Sal Buscema, had his first appearance in Captain America issue 168 in 1973.

Helmut is the 13th Baron Zemo, picking up the title from his father Heinrich. His family of German nobility, pledged loyalty and service to the German Empire, and just like his father, Helmut was disfigured by Adhesive X, a chemical developed by Nazi scientist, and forced to wear his mask to hide his face. As he is certain, that Captain America has destroyed his father, it is motivation to have his revenge. In the MCU he was retconned as a Sokovian, not German anymore, and the internal conflict of heritage was connected with the drama around Sokovia.

 

While the old pose isn't bad and actually fitting for the character. The new Baron Zemo is in an attacking move, and they added a small rock to his sole, to connect him with a bigger surface to the base. I am quite surprised about the small details on the sides of the mask. They really made that work.

The "youngest" villain among the characters included in this boxed set is Crossbones / Brock Rumlow. He saw his first appearance in a Captain America Comic as well, issue 359 from 1989, and he was created by Mark Grünwald and Kieron Dwyer. He is a mercenary employed by other villains like Red Skull and Hydra. As such his affiliations are Hydra, Cabal and Criminal Syndicate.

The model got cleaned up and looks less "beefy", but I think it is a downgrade that they removed the ammo packs etc from his clothes.  I like the old brawler pose, which brings him close to looking like Bane, but the new pose with him cracking his knuckles, especially how well they split the weapon that hangs around his body.

And next one of the "oldest" foes of Captain America, since issue number 7 in 1941, Johann Schmidt / Red Skull. Created by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon.

He was the protégé of Hitler and Nazi Agent during World War 2 and while he initially wore a red skull mask, a disfigurement decades later caused his face to match his name. He is the archenemy of Captain America and founder of Hydra.

The 2023 pose has him showing of the Tesseract in an aggressive pose, while the older 2019 has him standing more like a power-hungry villain, admiring the infinity stone. The new sculpt is quite slender and poses on a brief case with the Hydra symbol on it. Quickly build and proper base filling. I think for the game the new pose is more dynamic and fitting for an actual combat scenario.

And the last of the villain line up is another archenemy, in this case of Spider-Man, Dr. Otto Octavius. He is included in this set as Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist. The variant in the old core set is Doctor Octopus, with different skills / power. Both have the same affiliations.

His first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man #3 in 1963 and he was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. While he is not a pure evil character, more like a conflicted antihero and ally of Spider-Man from time to time, he still is a mad scientist. Dr. Octavius created a mechanical harness with four strong additional arms on its back, which fused to his body permanently in a lab accident, and gave him the nick-name Dr. Octopus, because they resembled octopus's tentacles.

The old model has a more comic book look, with overdrawn proportions. The new sculpt looks a bit like Mad Scientist Elton John, but is incredibly sturdy as the tentacles have multiple connections towards the body, reducing the strain on the extensions. Simply make sure to choose a flat / empty base, to have the space to place him properly on it.

This gives you 5 villains with an additional base of Ultronbots.

And quite the line-up, just from the characters themself. And as mentioned above, solid content of both Avengers and Hydra right from the start. While of course, Cabal would be a valid option for the villains, as well as S.H.I.E.L.D. for the heroes.

A question that has been asked a couple of times and is not that easy to answer. What scale is Marvel Crisis Protocol. As the heroes and villains vary a lot in size, and you have incredibly tall super humans it is a bit difficult to point out the regular 5 ft 8 male. Crossbones is ~1,90m or about 45mm in this game, which translates roughly in 1:43 scale like a lot of diecast vehicles are. This means, they are even taller than the popular 1:48 scale model kits and 28-32mm ranged miniatures (which roughly translates to somewhere between 1:56 to 1:60.

Most MCP miniatures are about 42-45mm standing upright from the top of their head to their feet. In the middle picture you can see a comparison with the Warhammer 40k Primaris Space Marines (left),  a Walking Dead Zombie (Mantic Games, Middle), and a heroic 28mm model by Hasslefree. The last picture provides a size comparison with the Marvel Zombies Zombicide miniatures, who are just a bit smaller, but on a sliding scale as some of the larger characters like Hulk had to still fit the bases.

And now for some close-ups of the characters from the Earth's Mightiest boxed set.

Conclusion

As mentioned in the unboxing, the value these models provide is already above the retail of the core set. 13 character bases are roughly 6 of the character packs that cost between 30 to 40 Euro. In addition to the terrain, a proper deal.

The quality of the casting is proper and they managed to catch a lot of details in plastic, by using not just injection moulding but actually used more complex moulds, with slide in parts and such, to recreate further plasticity and a higher grade of detail. Mould lines are decent and easy to remove and for two sprues, you really get a proper yield.

As for the combination of models in this set, I think that's a good starting point as well. You have a proper start for both The Avengers and Hydra, with the option to quickly shift towards S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Cabal, with very few additions. And even if you're going for something completely different like X-Men, you can probably trade in some of the characters, keep the terrain and still have a proper bargain.

Marvel Crisis Protocol is a game by Atomic Mass Games and distributed by Asmodee.

The reviewed product item was provided by the manufacturer.