ZE LEAPER! YES! Batroc the Leaper has finally made it big time! Appearances in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and now Marvel Legends. That wonderful night from 2013 (remember?) at the San Diego Comic Convention when Batroc was first shown off seems like an eternity ago, but now he’s here and you can have him leaping all over your shelves! Batroc is one of the figures in the recently released Marvel Legends Infinite Thanos Series.
Batroc is one of those “C-list” characters that you couldn’t take seriously for years. He’s a French mercenary master of ass-kicking and, for years, getting his ass kicked. He’s been a part of the Masters of Evil, Thunderbolts, and Batroc’s Brigade — his own supervillain team. You know you are bad-ass when you have your own team made up of Zaran the Weapons Master and Machete. I’m not entirely certain when he became cool again, if it was during Mark Waid’s fantastic run or Ed Brubaker’s, but no matter, he’s been made relevant and scary cool. He’s sporting a new costume in the comics these days, a long overdue upgrade, and one that fits with his appearance in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Hasbro gets some major props for producing Batroc, especially in his classic duds. Let’s face it, as far as costumes go, this one is pretty bad. It’s a great costume for 1966 when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were out of their gourds making characters left and right, but in the modern sense, ouch. Which makes this figure pretty damn bad-ass. I mean, this ugly-ass costumed freak actually got made into a toy, and this reviewer couldn’t be any happier. While Captain America has some excellent rogues, he’s also got a ton like Batroc that make for great fodder, and Hasbro dug deep and made him.
The figure is based on the Bucky Captain America – ArchAngel – Black Panther body, which we’ve covered so much at this point it’s hard to say anything new about the buck. After its many reuses, it still holds up as one of the greatest Marvel Legends bucks of all time. It’s just that good.
And the articulation hasn’t changed at all! This buck is loaded with amazing articulation, and for a character that is a martial arts expert, the figure needs a ton of articulation. Here’s the breakdown:
Ball head
Hinge neck
Ball shoulder (x2)
Biceps swivel (x2)
Double elbows (x2)
Hinge wrists (x2)
Swivel hands (x2)
Abdominal crunch
Twist waist
Partial ball hips (x2)
Swivel thighs (x2)
Double knees (x2)
Swivel shins (x2)
Rocker ankles (x2)
Batroc comes with a build-a-figure piece for Thanos, namely his chest! You can’t complete Thanos without Batroc, and this is such a critical piece that it forces you to pick up Batroc. Other than that, there isn’t much going on in the way of accessories for Batroc. He needs multiple hands like Iron Fist for some serious martial arts poses.
You need to pick up Batroc. He’s important as a classic Marvel villain, as a member of the Masters of Evil, and as a member of the Thunderbolts. He’s an important part of any display that you put together. You can pick him up today at:
