The Original Nike Hypervenom Is Back Summer 2025

Nike Football has seen better days. Competition on the pitch continues to get fiercer by the season, pressuring the brand to innovate at a pace that isn't sustainable for any company. And while the Swoosh will keep delivering top-notch performance products for Cristiano Ronaldo, Vinicius Jr., and its other elite athletes, the brand has been regularly visiting its expansive archive to breathe new life into beloved designs from the past. It's already done so with the iconic Total 90 III indoor model, as well as Brazil's 2002 World Cup kit. Now, the division obsessed with the beautiful game has gone back to unearth the original Hypervenom Phantom I football boot.

The return of the silhouette once associated with Neymar Jr. isn't the first faithful reissue of a footwear product by Nike Football, but it's arguably the most anticipated.

If you didn't keep up with La Liga or the Barclays Premier League, you might've just seen the Hypervenom in its inaugural "Black/Citrus" color scheme moments ago. But for those tapped in with football—including its biggest names and state-of-the-art gear—the retro serves as a trip down memory lane to a better time for the sport and its surrounding culture.

At the time, the Nike Hypervenom was a big risk for the brand. As mentioned in marketing material, the new boot line aimed to introduce "a new breed of attack" to the game. The discontinuation of the T90 franchise had left a void within the footballing equipment world, one that transcended the pitch in a way few others had.

Neymar Jr., the exciting 20-something-year-old who'd just signed to FC Barcelona, was chosen as the face of the new line. His mesmerizing style of play paired well with the Hypervenom Phantom I, which essentially delivered Nike's first agility-focused design. Other categories offered by the brand included power, speed, control, and comfort.

An all-new NikeSkin material helped the Swoosh achieve one of its most supple and flexible uppers. High-quality polyurethane came together with lightweight mesh to create a "barefoot" experience crucial for players like the Brazilian superstar. The All Conditions Control (ACC) coating found on other franchises of the era—including Mercurial, Tiempo, and CTR360—also appeared across the Hypervenom's dimpled upper.

The Neymar-co-signed model differed from its Nike Football kin. Visually, its debut "Black/Citrus" colorway, backwards swoosh on the heel, and skull logo departed from the refined, "safe" cues found throughout the other series. The boot, however, was ushering in a new era in the sport, and youth across the globe quickly bought pairs upon release. Some surely added the Hypervenom to their collections to try and imitate Neymar Jr.'s many moves, while others were simply drawn to the irreverent style.

Indoor and turf versions of the original Hypervenom Phantom I were also popular, with some ballers even wearing the former edition casually.

The Hypervenom franchise only saw three proper iterations before being morphed into a number of different offshoots. Follow-ups to the inaugural design were mixed, and athletes wearing the Phantom II and III never recreated the magic Neymar Jr. did with the first design. The Phantom Vision 2 "Future DNA" flirted with the idea of a remake back in 2020, but it fell short of truly honoring its inspiration the way fans wanted.

Nike Football's reissue of the "Black/Citrus" icon delivers most of the blueprint with which the Hypervenom series launched 12 years ago. NikeSkin reprises its role, but the tooling underfoot has been replaced with the Hypervenom Phantom III Firm Ground's plate and stud configuration. Performance has yet to be seen, but what's already certain is that the retro looks good.

Pairs will arrive in a custom Hypervenom-branded shoe box and with a skull-donning nylon bag as was the case back in 2013.

Enjoy official photos of the 2025 Hypervenom Phantom I "Black/Citrus" pair ahead. Pairs are expected to hit Nike.com and speciality retailers throughout June. Pricing has been confirmed to be $250 for the piece of history.

Outside of the world of football, the world of Air Max continues to grow by the day.