Mattel: DC Multiverse Dark Knight Returns Mutant Leader

“I feel the empty seat beside me and once again I think of you, Dick … I look at the one creature who isn’t wounded or hiding … we never faced anything like this … we only fought humans … “ — Batman, The Dark Knight Returns

The Mutants and their hulking leader were created by Frank Miller for his Dark Knight Returns epic to demonstrate just how bad conditions in Gotham had become following Batman’s retirement and to give Batman something to pound on in the process of cleaning up and reclaiming Gotham. As a character, the Mutant Leader paved the way for similar characters who were little more than plot devices in the ‘90s like Doomsday and, to a lesser extent, Bane. He’s a big, hulking, vicious character who is just there to hammer on Batman, basically, so there’s not much to him character-wise. And now, after all these years, Mattel has rendered the Mutant leader in plastic form, and the results are mostly satisfying.

Mine was shipped to me from Amazon in a bubble mailer, so that means I invariably get a mangled box. Not a big deal since I immediately toss the packaging, but it was crunched in such a way that the figure was actually difficult to remove from the plastic insert. He was really in there. As such, I didn’t feel like dealing with it again by inserting him back in to take these pics, so his standing next to it like a Price is Right model will have to suffice. Like the Armored Batman and Carrie Kelley, it’s cool to see Frank Miller’s art right on the package. And if you looks just right, you can see the New 52 Doomsday piece hidden away in there.

Okay, let’s get this out of the way right off the bat (no pun intended). He has no nipples. The Mutant Leader’s nipples are one of the character’s defining traits since he doesn’t have a “costume” per se, so those nipples are pretty darn important. Mezco got the nipples right (what a weird sentence to write) with their take on the Mutant Leader last year. Seriously, you could cut glass with those things. But here they are conspicuously absent. Because we have to protect the children from seeing them on retail pegs? Who knows, but I suspect it was just cost-effective laziness on Mattel’s part because as-is it requires no new tooling. Fortunately any customizer should be able to fashion a set in no time flat, but what a weird problem to have to fix. Thanks, Mattel, for putting us in the position of having to make nippes for our toys. 2016, folks.

Otherwise, the figure is just okay. The body used is another Masters of the Universe Classics body reworked to fit the character’s larger build, which is fine, but here it’s still not big enough. The Mutant Leader should be more physically imposing than Batman, and with this body they’re the same size. So while the figure may look like an okay take on the character (sans nipples), it still misses the mark some just in terms of basic design needs.

But he does look cool enough on his own. The head sculpt is fun and vicious-looking. His legs look to be a new sculpt designed to resemble leather pants. He’s got his spikes in all the right places, and they’re somewhat soft and bendable, so I don’t feel as though I could potentially stab myself with them (like with the Mezco figure).

His articulation is standard for this body type:

• Ball-jointed head
• Hinge/swivel shoulders and hips
• Single-jointed elbows and knees
• Swivel waist and wrists
• Ab crunch
• Hinged ankles

 

His range of motion is his head isn’t great and he can’t look up at all. He would also benefit from a rocker joint in his ankles to improve poseability because, as it is, dynamic poses are something of a balancing act with no real meaningful stability. In general, the range of motion in his legs is pretty terrible. His knees can’t achieve a 90-degree bend, and the “diaper” soft plastic overlay on his waist/crotch hinders movement in his upper legs. The above pic is about as dynamic as his lower body gets. His upper body, however, is standard for this body.

The Mutant Leader comes with two comic-accurate accessories, which alone put him ahead of both Robin and the Armored Batman in the accessory department (each came with just one accessory). The large torch is well-sculpted and he can actually hold it well. The crowbar looks like a crowbar.

Despite its shortcomings, I am loving that Mattel is so invested in giving us all the major characters from The Dark Knight Returns. The Mutant Leader is a fun addition to the shelf, and even if you have the Mezco version, this interpretation looks different enough to justify a purchase, and this version is much more affordable than the Mezco figure (probably because of the nipples). I got mine from Amazon, but I’d imagine he’ll be turning up at all the usual retail spots soon.