The MCU may be in a little bit of a lull right now (with only one film scheduled for release this year – Deadpool 3!), but WizKids Games is bringing all of your recent favorite heroes and villains from streaming to the HeroClix battlefield. Following on the success of 2022’s Disney Plus expansion comes a brand-new Marvel HeroClix set called Marvel Studios Next Phase! This upcoming release features characters from Disney Plus series and specials She-Hulk, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Werewolf by Night, Ms. Marvel, and I Am Groot. This is a big set with a whopping 72 figures ranging from little generics to powerhouses and everything in between, and it’s coming soon. Today we’re going to check out a full brick of Next Phase boosters, so let’s dive right in!

Spoiler warning for the Next Phase of Disney+ shows and specials!

As usual, a HeroClix brick provides you with ten boosters, each containing five game pieces and their respective cards. There’s the usual rarity system so every pack should contain a number of commons and uncommons along with a rare, super rare, or chase. Next Phase boosters are brightly colored and eye-catching, with multiversal artwork of She-Hulk decorating the front panel. The box sides show off some of the main shows the set pulls from with Moon Knight, Hawkeye, I Am Groot, and Werewolf by Night, while the booster’s back panel gives us even more teases while helping new players with useful links and information. Lastly, if you take a look at the top panel, you’ll catch a glimpse of a certain lurking character… the robotic overseer K.E.V.I.N. from She-Hulk!

Let’s tear those boosters open and see what we find!

Booster 1

• Common 005 Moon Knight
• Common 007 Kazi
• Uncommon 022 Runa
• Uncommon 023 Saracen
• Super Rare 053b Man-Thing

Booster 2

• Common 002 Kate Bishop
• Common 013 Maya Lopez
• Uncommon 027 Wrecker
• Uncommon 028 Leap-Frog
• Rare 032 Maya Lopez

Booster 3

• Common 007 Kazi
• Common 012 Hulk
• Common 014 Baby Groot
• Uncommon 021 Layla El-Faouly
• Uncommon 026 Nikki Ramos

Booster 4

• Common 008 Demon
• Common 003 Clint Barton
• Common 004 Ms. Marvel
• Uncommon 018 Valentina Allegra De Fontaine
• Rare 042 Jack Russell

Booster 5

• Common 009 Yelena
• Common 010 Track Suit
• Uncommon 025 Track Suit
• Rare 037a Kingpin
• Chase 063 Jack and Elsa

Booster 6

• Common 001 She-Hulk
• Common 015a-g Trick Arrow
• Uncommon 020 Harrow
• Rare 040 Ronin
• Super Rare 047a Elsa Bloodstone

Booster 7

• Common 005 Moon Knight
• Common 011 Emil Blonsky
• Common 016 Wong
• Uncommon 020 Harrow
• Rare 038 She-Hulk

Booster 8

• Common 010 Track Suit
• Common 014 Baby Groot
• Uncommon 017 Jen Walters
• Uncommon 022 Runa
• Rare 041 Lucky

Booster 9

• Common 002 Kate Bishop
• Common 003 Clint Barton
• Common 013 Maya Lopez
• Uncommon 029 Mr. Immortal
• Rare 034 Donny Blaze

Booster 10

• Common 004 Ms. Marvel
• Common 008 Demon
• Uncommon 019 Jack Duquense
• Uncommon 029 Mr. Immortal
• Super Rare 051 Wong

Here’s the full breakdown of the figures in this brick (your results will vary of course):

COMMONS (including duplicates)

001 She-Hulk

002 Kate Bishop

003 Clint Barton

004 Ms. Marvel

005 Moon Knight

007 Kazi

008 Demon

009 Yelena

010 Track Suit

011 Emil Blonsky

012 Hulk

013 Maya Lopez

014 Baby Groot

016 Wong

UNCOMMONS (including duplicates)

017 Jen Walters

018 Valentina Allegra De Fontaine

019 Jack Duquense

020 Harrow

021 Layla El-Faouly

022 Runa

023 Saracen

025 Track Suit

026 Nikki Ramos

027 Wrecker

028 Leap-Frog

029 Mr. Immortal

RARES

032 Maya Lopez

034 Donny Blaze

037a Kingpin

038 She-Hulk

040 Ronin

041 Lucky

042 Jack Russell

SUPER RARES

047a Elsa Bloodstone

051 Wong

053b Man-Thing

CHASE

063 Jack and Elsa

EQUIPMENT

015a-g Trick Arrow

Before we go through all of the figures, let’s get an overview of what we pulled and how the collation looks. This booster resulted in 14 commons (all but one in the set), 12 uncommons out of the set’s 13, 8 out of 16 rares, 3 out of 14 super rares, and one of the 13 total chases (and Ultra Chase). Not pulling one of the commons is a little irritating, but overall, the pulls are pretty good and about what you’d expect across the different rarity levels. I do have to point out, however, that we did get a “dud” booster. You’ll see that booster #3 only held commons and uncommons; while the figure inside was common 014 Baby Groot, it came with a card for the rare 031a Baby Groot so it was probably a case of the incorrect figure making it in.

Taking a tour through the different rarity levels, we start on the most ubiquitous figures: the commons! There’s a nice assortment of main characters from the different Next Phase series, along with a couple fun generics to build out swarm teams and use for generation mechanics. She-Hulk starts off the fun in the 001 slot, and she’s joined here by cousin Hulk, client Emil Blonsky, and guest star Wong. Both Hawkeyes are next with Kate Bishop and Clint Barton, as well as sometime enemies Kazi, Yelena, and Maya Lopez. Headliners from other series include Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, and Baby Groot, and the only common we’re missing is Mr. Knight. Last but not least are the generics, the Demon from She-Hulk and Track Suit from Hawkeye. Note that Ms. Marvel and Baby Groot here are the only pulls we got from their respective shows.

Next up are the uncommons, and here we’ve got another (but different) Track Suit generic! They may not be the most exciting pulls, but they’re really useful and have some fun synergies. At this level we picked up secondary characters from both Moon Knight and Hawkeye, Harrow and Layla El-Faouly and Jack Duquense respectively. She-Hulk is the most popular show here with the non-Hulked out Jen Walters, fellow Superhuman Law Division employee Nikki Ramos, Runa, Saracen, Wrecker, Leap-Frog, and Mr. Immortal. Meanwhile, a surprise addition here is Valentina Allegra De Fontaine; she has not appeared in Next Phase but her actions in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever seem to be building toward something big in the upcoming Thunderbolts film.

As the figures get more rarified (and we pull fewer of them), we see some different themes present themselves in the rares. Hawkeye takes center stage here, with Clint throwing off his Ronin persona, Lucky the Pizza Dog, and villains Kingpin and Maya Lopez. The lawyering gets even more intense here with a Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney-inspired “objection” She-Hulk as well as the out-of-control illusionist Donny Blaze. Last but absolutely not least we have our first figure from Werewolf by Night! The hero Jack Russell is here to combat monsters, looking quite cool in grayscale.

The tables have turned quite surprisingly at the highest rarity levels. In the super rares we encounter a truly beefed-up Sorcerer Supreme Wong from She-Hulk (and really his appearance in Shang-Chi), and then the rest of our rarest figures come from the gloomy haunts of Bloodstone Manor and Werewolf by Night! Elsa Bloodstone is a spot of color in her brilliant orange jacket, while Prime Man-Thing and chase duo Jack and Elsa are in black and white like the original release of the special.

You may not expect a somewhat niche set like Marvel Studios Next Phase to have too much in the way of unique or new mechanics, but there’s a lot of really neat stuff going on here. The Trick Arrow equipment is super fun, letting you start the game with up to three unique cards face down and then choosing the right arrow for the job when the time comes! The Shifting Focus mechanic is alive and well here on characters like Moon Knight and Baby Groot, while several “civilians” have the ability to upgrade into their fully powered or alternate versions like Jen Walters, Ronin, and Jack Russell. The Track Suit mafia and Demons can be generated by Kingpin and Donny Blaze respectively, while the former figures also sport “Expendable Goon” traits like those we first saw in the Notorious set. Speaking of traits, one of the most interesting shared ones in this set is “Abomaste Mindfulness,” allowing followers of Emil Blonsky to switch around action token applications so you get the most punch where you need it. There are also some new keyword shenanigans with “podcaster” making its debut and the thus-far seldom used “marksman” and “demon legion” getting new users. Lastly, I have to shout out Mr. Immortal’s inventive traits that potentially bring him back from KO… but also letting you KO him if you’re tired of his antics!

As a fan of most of these shows, I’m really enjoying getting figures of these fun characters. The different visual styles of the shows and special translate really well into plastic, with bright and vivid colors on She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel characters especially, some more muted and somber tones elsewhere, and of course the really dynamic grayscale of (most of) our Werewolf by Night pulls. Across the board sculpts are very good in this set, and even on “civilian” types there’s a nice range of poses and the likenesses of famous actors look solid. Clothing and weapons are nicely detailed, and bring to life some of the more outlandish looks and costumes of MCU characters. You gotta love the expressive poses of Track Suit mafia members, Baby Groot running forward in excitement, Mr. Immortal resetting a broken neck, Jack Duquesne brandishing his favorite sword, Donny Blaze performing “magic” (and definitely not looking like Criss Angel), “Phoenix Wright” She-Hulk, and more. Some of my favorite figures in this set include common She-Hulk looking cool in her super suit, Moon Knight with his intricately detailed wrappings and armor, Nikki Ramos for her style and pose, rare Maya Lopez, Lucky looking adorable with his pizza slice, Jack Russell on the prowl with his iconic face markings, the incredibly textured Man-Thing, and super rare Wong stepping through a portal with powered up fists at the ready!

I know what you really want to see, dial reveals! We were lucky to pull some figures that may not have been seen yet, so here’s a selection of those:

Common Yelena

Common Wong

Uncommon Nikki Ramos

Rare Donny Blaze

Rare Kingpin

Rare Ronin

Super Rare Wong

Super Rare Man-Thing

Chase Jack and Elsa

Marvel HeroClix Marvel Studios Next Phase is coming soon, and available for pre-order now. In addition to the booster set of 71 figures, WizKids has a couple other items on offer this time around like a Play At Home Kit featuring She-Hulk, Pizza Party packs featuring figures, bystanders, and objects, and even brand-new Retail Chase Boosters with premium dice, exclusive bystander tokens, and three rare or higher figures including one with a unique, exclusive deco!

Next Phase brings together some very different Marvel Cinematic Universe properties, but it works really well as a HeroClix expansion. There’s a great selection of heroes, villains, and generics, the sculpts and paint jobs are dynamic and fun, and the mechanics and power levels of the figures give new and veteran players great new options for their games. I’m really digging this set and can’t wait to collect more, especially more characters from Moon Knight, I Am Groot, and Werewolf by Night. Get your orders in for Next Phase at your friendly local game store or online, and as always good luck with your pulls!

Visit HeroClix.com for even more info as well as downloads of rules and maps, and stay tuned to Action Figure Insider as we continue our reviews of new HeroClix! If you don’t have access to a local comic book or game store at this time you can also order your HeroClix directly from the WizKids website.

Review and photos by Scott Rubin.

Review samples courtesy of WizKids Games.