Scarlett (Origins) — G.I. Joe Classified Series #20

Overview

Scarlett (Origins) is figure #20 in the G.I. Joe Classified Series, Wave 6, 2021 at $19.99. She completes the Origins wave’s five-figure roster. Samara Weaving (Ready or Not, Bill & Ted Face the Music) plays Scarlett in the film, with a role that multiple reviewers noted was limited — she doesn’t appear until roughly the midpoint of the movie, though her presence when on screen was generally praised.

As the Classified line’s second Scarlett — following the Wave 1 redesign (#05, 2020) — she occupies an interesting position: neither version is the ARAH-accurate vintage Scarlett that many collectors wanted, leaving that space for a later Retro Cardback release. The Origins version is a movie-specific design with Weaving’s likeness rather than a classic character update.

The Movie Role

Scarlett in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins is a GI Joe operative who travels to Japan to investigate Cobra’s activities. She’s competent, focused, and underserved by the script in terms of screen time and character development. Samara Weaving brings genuine energy to the role despite the limitations. The reception was broadly positive for the performance but noted the character’s minimal integration into the main storyline.

Samara Weaving Likeness

The headsculpt captures Weaving at the standard Origins wave level — recognisable to fans of her work without being a photorealistic portrait. Weaving’s features are distinctive enough to register at this scale better than some likenesses in the wave.

The Magali Villeneuve package art is among the Origins wave’s strongest creative contributions — Villeneuve’s illustration style has a warmth and expressiveness that suits Scarlett particularly well and has attracted collector attention independent of the figure itself.

The Crossbow

The crossbow is Scarlett’s defining accessory across her entire history in the franchise, and the Origins version includes it. In a wave where accessories range from the exceptional (Baroness’s MP5K) to the minimal (Akiko’s sword), the crossbow falls somewhere in the middle — appropriate for the character and well-executed without being a standout design achievement.

The Two Scarletts Problem

With Origins Scarlett, collectors had two Classified Scarletts and neither was the ARAH-vintage-accurate design. The Wave 1 redesign (#05) was a modernised sci-fi interpretation. Origins #20 is a movie tie-in. Both have face printing and a crossbow. Both have their own design validity. Neither is what vintage-oriented collectors were asking for.

The Retro Cardback Scarlett (later in the line) addressed this gap with 17 accessories and a design much closer to the 1982 original. Once that figure arrived, both earlier versions became supplementary rather than primary Scarlett representations. At their secondary market prices, collecting all three versions is a reasonable way to track the character’s evolution through the Classified programme.

Origins Wave Packaging Legacy

Magali Villeneuve’s artwork for this Scarlett package is the right note on which to end the Origins wave. The artist partnership programme — commissioning fine-art illustrators rather than standard commercial promotional artists — gave the Classified line a distinctive visual identity from the packaging outward. The Origins wave’s packages, featuring Tran Nguyen, Sean Cheetham, and Villeneuve among others, represent the programme at one of its creative peaks. For display-box collectors, the Origins wave’s packaging quality partially offsets the below-retail secondary market reality of the figures inside.

Verdict

Scarlett (Origins) #20 is a competent movie tie-in figure — the crossbow is present, the Weaving likeness works, and the Villeneuve package art is excellent. For Origins wave completionists, she’s the final piece. For collectors who want the definitive Classified Scarlett, the Retro Cardback version with 17 accessories is the recommendation. Available at well below retail.

---

Part of G.I. Joe Classified Series | Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins Wave 6 | 2021. Related: Scarlett #05 | Baroness (Origins) #19 | Lady Jaye #25.

What the Origins Wave Tells Us About the Classified Line

The five Origins figures together function as a single data point in the Classified line’s history. Hasbro committed significant resources to a movie tie-in wave for a film that underperformed. Every figure ended up below retail on the secondary market. The collector audience voted clearly with their wallets for vintage designs over movie tie-ins.

The line’s response was immediate and durable: from 2022 onward, the Classified programme moved firmly back toward ARAH-accurate designs, with increasingly close translations of the vintage figures rather than modernised redesigns. Storm Shadow Classic (#35), Spirit Iron-Knife (#36), the standard Cobra Officer (#37) — these were all more faithful to their 1980s counterparts than the Wave 1 figures had been. The Origins wave was an experiment; the results were unambiguous.

Scarlett’s Place in the GI Joe Female Character Roster

By the end of 2021, the Classified line had four distinct female characters: Wave 1 Scarlett (#05), Cobra Island Baroness with C.O.I.L. (#13), Origins Baroness (#19), and Origins Scarlett (#20). Of the four, the Cobra Island Baroness set and Wave 1 Scarlett were the most commercially successful. The Origins figures both traded below retail. The lesson Hasbro took forward: female characters should arrive in their most recognisable, ARAH-accurate configurations rather than movie-specific or redesigned versions. Lady Jaye (#25) and the subsequent standard-line female releases reflected this shift.

For a character as important to GI Joe as Scarlett, having a version that truly honours the 1982 original was a gap that persisted until the Retro Cardback release addressed it. Origins Scarlett is a chapter in that story — the second attempt, still not quite what collectors were asking for, at a price point that now reflects how the market evaluated it.