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More pictures are up in the usual places for the Doc Ock vs Spider-Man mecha-palooza, as well as our first pictures for buildable Groot and the Miles Mec

In all fairness, this is the same director who took Peacemaker, made him an unlikable jerk, had him kill one of the most-likable most-morally-good characters on the team, had him attempt to kill the other most-likable most-morally-good character, all in an attempt to cover up the horrible abuses of the US government and then gave him him his own spinoff show where he fleshed the character out, gave him a path towards redemption and turned him from a completely hatable character into a very likable but flawed character. So it’s not like he hasn’t done this same exact thing already (honestly, you could probably argue that he’s done it with just about every movie he’s made, but I think Peacemaker is the most apparent example).

Yeah, it seemed pretty obvious from the initial announcement this would be the case. I’d be shocked if we didn’t get a set this go around, but regardless, Brainiac being featured in a movie (and characters like Sinestro, Grodd, and Green Lantern getting more exposure) is a good thing for those of us who want more than just Batman from this theme (which I think is everyone but our slow, shelled friend). I am curious what Brainiac is going to look like. Comicwise, his look has ranged from big-brained-Terminator to Flanders-top/stripper-bottom, so there’s a lot of ways his design could go.

I don’t think you quite understand my argument. It isn’t that Lego is going to cash in when DC creates content that is aimed at kids (and by kids, I mean 8-14 year olds, which are Lego’s target age group). Rather, I’m saying that Lego is going to cash in on things that kids recognize and things that are popular with them. So, of course, the timeline for different shows like BtB (which didn’t seem to be popular anyways) or movies like TDK aren’t going to line up with when we get Batman sets. But how people, specifically kids and parents, perceive Batman does depend on the content that is being out. You go back to the early 2010’s and we were coming off of TDKT, which were insanely popular and aimed at the older side of Lego’s audience (or even older, making them “cool” to people in Lego’s target audience). This helped promote the Batman brand with Lego’s target audience, allowing Lego to sell sets that weren’t specifically based on TDKT (before 2020, we only got 1 set based on those films) but were Batman themed. But, as time went on, other things (namely the MCU) became popular. The Lego Movie and The Lego Batman Movie did help Batman stay popular a while longer, but by 2020 we had gone multiple years without a Batman movie, the R-Rated Joker had just come, and Batman had waned slightly in popularity and began to become associated less with the 12-14 age group and more the 16+ age group. The Batman came out, and although it was also PG-13, it was a moodier, darker film less focused on action and more in the style of David Fincher films. IMO, that helped seal the deal that Batman was for a more mature audience than the 12-14 year olds Lego was targeting. Which is why we’ve been seeing Batman sets aimed almost exclusively at adults since then. Teen Titans Go, as much as I think Lego should have capitalized it, has the opposite problem. It was aimed at a younger audience than Lego targets, making them appear childish and uncool. It also doesn’t help that Lego rarely makes sets on cartoon series, and even then it’s only Spider-Man and sets aimed at fans of older cartoons like BtAS and X-Men ‘97. But how does this tie to my larger point about Superman? Superman, like Batman and Spider-Man, is one of those superheroes that everyone and their grandmother recognizes. But, unlike those other two, he hasn’t managed to achieve the same level of popularity, especially not in the past few decades. However, I think the latest movie has started to turn things around. The Superman brand should be getting additionally boosts these next two years with Supergirl and Man of Tomorrow releasing in July of both years. I think this could help push the Superman brand enough for Lego to capitalize on it again (the mech this years shows they’re at least testing the waters for more Superman sets) in the same way they once capitalized on Batman and currently capitalize on Spider-Man, although obviously on a much smaller scale (think 1-3 sets instead of 6-7 sets per year). I think it’s clear Batman sets are aimed at adults and I don’t see anything on the horizon that will help push him to the forefront again among 12-14 year olds. Thus, I think the number of Batman sets will remain stagnant while the number of Superman sets has the potential to increase significantly. I think we may find ourselves in a situation where Superman becomes more popular with LEGO’s target group while Batman becomes less, possibly even leading to more Superman sets than Batman sets. Obviously, this is going to depend a great deal on how the DCU continues to perform and whether Lego continues to target the same age group, and even if their internal data shows interest in Superman sets is there. But I don’t think the idea is as far fetched as it first appears.

IMO, whether or not we get more DC modulars depends on that state of DC as a franchise more than whether or not Arkham sells well. If the DCU is successful enough, I could see Lego making a Daily Planet or Hall of Justice to tie-in. Maybe even LexCorp and a Flash Museum. If Batman remains popular, we could see Wayne Tower, Wayne Manor, and GCPD. If DC falls off even more than it has in the past decade, I doubt the theme will even survive much longer. That’s a fair point about Lego increasingly aiming content at adults and giving us less for recent releases. But, with Super Heroes in particular, that seems to be a result of the MCU losing momentum and the DCEU collapsing in on itself like a dying star. I think it is worth noting that the one character who continuously gets sets aimed at a younger audience is Spider-Man. Sure, he seems to only be getting two sets directly tying into his new movie. But we got a wave of comic-based sets last summer. We got another wave coming this January. All aimed at a younger demographic. I’d argue this is because Spider-Man is obviously popular with a younger demographic, and always has been. But it helps that he’s had family friendly content continuously coming out for the past two decades that includes movies, cartoons, animated movies, etc. Batman was in a similar situation only five years ago where we were constantly getting sets for him aimed at a younger demographic. That has all but ended. Why is this? I’d argue it’s a direct result of his content increasingly being aimed at older audiences. When was the last Batman cartoon made aimed at younger audiences? 2014? And that’s why Lego has shifted towards the adult market for Batman because his content is aimed at older audiences and his older content remains popular, but isn’t as known by younger audiences. Superman is in a position where he’s not as popular as Batman, but he has content being aimed at younger audiences which could help boost his popularity with them. To your point, Batman has two projects that may be aimed at younger audiences coming out, but one is puppet animation which isn’t popular with anyone and the other is a movie that has been in development hell for a while and who knows when it will come out and what it will be rated. I think we will see a shift in Superman’s popularity happen (arguably, it is already underway) and Lego will want to cash in. Will he get the Spider-Man treatment? Certainly not to the same magnitude, but I could see him getting smaller comic waves, a couple of movie sets, and potentially eclipsing Batman in terms of set output if the conditions are right.

We already got Luthorised Bruce Wayne: https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?M=sh0990#T=S&O={"iconly":0}

These are all very fair points, especially the MoS one. However, IMO, it all comes down to this. DC is pushing Superman very hard right now and the content they’re making is available to a younger demographic. And it seems to be working, which makes it difficult for Lego to ignore for too long. Even if they don’t go all in on the DCU, I think they’ll still want to cash in on the Superman push. Batman isn’t currently getting that push, because he’s already popular. But the content he has been getting has skewed towards an older audience, which makes it more difficult for Lego to capitalize on. Which is why all the Batman sets we’ve gotten the past several years have been aimed at adults. I think the days where we saw Batman getting the same treatment as Spider-Man does in Lego Marvel sets has been over for a while now. I can’t remember the last time we got a wave of Batman sets that wasn’t based on older movies or under $300. But Superman is in a good position to take that slot and get his own wave of sets (movie based or otherwise) aimed at younger audiences.

You jest, but… As much fun as it is to be pessimistic about the state of this theme, I think we’re getting towards a good place in terms of Superman sets. The film reportedly did well. The merchandise seemed to sell well. We’re getting a sequel in all but name. We’re getting a spinoff movie and a spinoff tv series. And unlike most of the Batman stuff we’ve gotten, it mostly, if not all, is family friendly. I’m gonna make an incredibly bold prediction: by the end of this decade, we will see at least one year with more Superman sets than Batman sets.

There’s now a showrunner for the Jimmy Olsen show that will star Gorilla Grodd. Lego has a chance to do the funniest thing ever by making sets for this after snubbing Superman.

The Avengers? What is that? Is, is it a band? Is Little Goblin Junior in a band?

Baron Zemon or US Agent, Venomized of course.

I agree, but I also think we’re gonna be stuck waiting until the Mutant Saga (if that really is the next MCU saga) for Lego to really go all in on X-Men.

There’s no need to campaign for that. Lego is already planning that as our sole set for 2027

The Tower of Fate has a better chance because it includes Batman.

It’s time to start a campaign for Lego to #ReleaseTheTowerofFate.

There’s also books with Sinestro Corps Batman, John Stewart GL, pirate Batman, convergence Wonder Woman, Celtic Batman, and, of course, the book with Klarion the Witch boy (although he’s not exclusive since he appeared in 76209: Tower of Fate, he is incredibly rare).

It’s a shame Lego continues to waste sets on Avengers Legacy and Doomsday, instead of giving us sets for the movies we fans really care about edit: I missed the part about Brand New Day. I doubt Lego is going to leave the summer completely open given that’s when most of their superhero sets seems to drop. I expect we’ll just get more sets than we have the past few years because of new Avengers and Spider-Man sets. Or we just get the Doomsday sets in August and then maybe a Wolverine mech vs Sabertooth mech set to throw the X-Men ‘97 fans a bone.

No. We will get Jokerized Batman, Batmanized Joker, Jokerized Batmmanized Joker, and Batmanized Jokerized Batman and then the theme will end.

2022 remains the only year of this theme (so far) without a Joker.

Looks like we will be getting a Joker minifigure next year with the book. Joker dressed as Batman, because Joker isn’t Batman enough. I think this is technically our first Leto Joker minifigure. Even though Leto never actually wore the costume on screen.

Just a thought for a potential summer wave. What if they continued the “Speed Champions” line, but instead of Batmobiles, we got other Batman vehicles with that level of detail and attention. For example: - The Batboat with West’s Batman - The Batwing with Keaton’s Batman - The Bat with Bale’s Batman And, of course, if this Batmobile line continues, I would love to see Batmobiles based on Brave and the Bold and The Dark Knight Returns.

Batman is living out of his car now? I thought his one superpower was money.

“Friends” “Villains” “Locations” Hey, Lego, could we maybe get those in non-picture book format?

Maybe if it was game for a good superhero like Flash or Superman I’d be interested. But Batman? Nobody cares about Batman.

Looks like it’s the same classic Spider-Man minifigure again in the mech, which is unusual. Why do they keep sticking Iron Spider theming on these vehicles? Not even comic Iron Spiderman either, but the MCU version. I’m curious to see what Doc Ock looks like. Seems to be a new minifigure. Also, we’ve now gotten a new Rhino, new Mysterio, and new Doc Ock all within this wave. It does make me curious if we might actually see an Oscorp modular building later next year, like some of us have speculated. edit: Also new Kraven, Hobgoblin, and Green Goblin last summer. Seems like a solid villain roster.