The Eternals' Makkari

By Hervé St-Louis
October 5, 2021 - 09:06

Makkari is one of the earliest Eternals characters introduced by Jack Kirby in the first Eternals comics. Appearing in The Eternals #5 in 1976, the character has been involved in the Marvel universe for decade and was retroactively named as the heroes Hurricane and Mercury.

In the Eternals’ movie, Makkari is a deaf racialized woman. Thus, this is the character that has undergone the most changes in the film. While this has been controversial with some fans, I embrace the opportunity of seeing a different version of the fastest Eternal.

It is said that because she is deaf, Makkari is not affected by the effects of her sonic booms when she reaches supersonic speeds. In Marvel Comics, Makkari is the fastest human being in the universe.

Besides the Funko Pop action collectibles, there are no other Makkari action figures (if you discount the Legos!). Makkari is portrayed by actress Lauren Ridloff a deaf actress better-known for roles in The Walking Dead and other films. By changing Makkari, we have an opportunity to see another story than the usual one depicting speedsters such as Quicksilver and Flash. It appears that Makkari is a scholar engaged in the pursuit of historical knowledge and an understanding of human culture and languages. It is quite appropriate then, that one of the signature moves of Makkari’s action figure, is to teach us how to say “I love you” in the American Sign Language (ASL).

Likeness

The figure does look like actress Lauren Ridloff although I’m not sure about the shade of brown used for her skin. It could be lighter. There is not much media currently available on the Makkari from the Eternals’ movie for me to compare to the figure.

Sculpt

Makkari’s build is that of a petite and slender woman. Her arms are skinnier than Sprite’s! They are also the same length. She almost feels like in a different scale than the other Eternals as she is so petite. But the details on her face and her body are impressive. Unfortunately, the pictures and even videos that I have see of here do not capture the natural beauty of actress Lauren Ridloff. The shadows in pictures make her dimples cheek bones look bigger and out of shape, which is not the case when you hold her in hand. I like how her neck is not too long and does not give her the lollipop look.

She has the shape of a speedster, although her feet are too small and narrow to support her full weight if you want to pose her in a running stance. Without an action figure stand, it will be difficult. She has a beautiful smirk on her face. Makari’s hair are quite nice. Her hair are glued on her scalp with an extra large ponytail glued to the base of the hair. It has a nice texture and does feels like the hair of a black woman.

Paint

The paint application on her soft rubber parts is not great and can bleed to other parts. The silver paint on her body is not thick enough to hide the underlying red/crimson plastic underneath. She does not have any shading on her hair but does have nice 3D face painting on her face.

Scale

Mkkari is a petite woman much shorter than the other ones in her wave. She is also shorter than the Snake Eyes movie Baroness which is not a tall figure. Thus, Makkari is shorter than most female Marvel Legends and G.I. Joe Classified action figures. Only Sprite is shorter than her. Still, Makkari’s scale is fine, and I like variety in body sizes. She does look great next to the other Eternals, and that’s what really matters.

Stability

Makkari will fall a lot. Her feet are not wide enough to support her body in every poses. I have found a good way to pose her where she will not fall, but it’s a boring standing pose, not a running one.

Articulations

The heroine has only a ball joint on her neck which replaces the bending features normally there. None of the Eternals figures have bending necks. Thus, Makkari’s range of head articulation is limited by the sizer of the ball joint. She can bend her head down and rock sideways, but because of her hair, she cannot raise her chin easily. While she has good shoulder articulations, she has no butterfly joints. None of the Eternals have them. She cans rotate her arm 360 degrees and raise it at 120 degrees which is better than most action figures. Her arms can also bend close to her ribcage which is good when varying poses. She has no bicep curls, but her forearms can rotate 360 degrees at the single jointed elbow.

Her wrists can bend at the palms, but her sleeves do peak through bit. They don’t limit her outward bending much. Her wrists can also rotate. Makkari has a diaphragm ball joint articulations that gives her abdominal crunches and allows her to rotate 360 degrees. She can raise her legs at about 80 degrees and do 40 degrees splits. There are thigh curls and double knees articulations. The knees are a bit stiff. He ankles can bend up and down as well as pivot. I find the ankles a bit loose, but they still can hold her weight. It might be a problem in a year if they become too loose and cannot support her weight anymore.

Plastic

Makkari’s body’s is covered with a soft plastic PVC dress that plugs just below he diaphragm.

Props

Mkkari comes with the left arm of the build-a-figure Gilgamesh action figure and the extra had that comes with it. She also has alternate hands of her own. In the package, her right hand is the sign language hand, while the other one is grasping. Well, she also has two fists. The fists, I must mention, are much smaller than even Sprite’s. That’s a bit odd.

Packaging

Makkari comes in a nice box common to all Eternals that features a dynamic realistic painting of her in the back and sides of the box. Other figures of the wave are featured in the back.

Cost

Makkary costs $22.99USD and $33.99CAD. Like other Marvel Legends and most six-inches action figures, she retails for more in 2021 although she was produced last year and would have retailed for less, had she been released in September 2020. It seems that Hasbro charged collectors the storage fee of this figure.

Availability

Makkari, like all of the main Eternals wave is available at most retail stores such as Walmart, Toys R Us, Target, but also online stores that usually sell action figures and Marvel Legends. She should be very easy to find, unlike her fellow Eternals Thena and Ajak who are played by more famous actresses (Angelina Jolie, and Salma Hayek).

Makkari is part of the build-a-figure Gilgamesh which means that anyone who wants Gilgamesh will want her too. But then again, if a collector wants Gilgamesh, he’ll probably also want Makkari. I can see many collectors predicting that Makkari will become a peg warmer as she represents a racialized woman, and many detractors are hoping that the movie and the popularity of the character will drop. I have another spin on this. Makkari is one of the rare deaf characters in popular media. If I were the parent of a deaf child, I would definitely buy this action figure. Many kids may be asking for this toy too.

The character is very beautiful as mentioned above. She looks great and can even be customized into other characters. I’m impressed with her, and I recommend her strongly. Get her now, before she runs out and you regret missing out.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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