After an unusually lengthy delay period, Henry Cavill’s Superman from last year’s combative movie is joining the ranks of the One:12 line and its other DC Cinematic figures. Between early in-hand shots and some initial reviews, it was possible this figure was the lesser of the World’s Finest, good but not the great that Batman is.
Well, that’s not the case for me.
Superman comes packaged with a somewhat light number of accessories, though, as a Superman figure, they definitely cover the essentials. He has three pairs of additional hands, giving him fists, flying, open, and gripping. He comes with a surprisingly substantial “Gotham City” manhole cover, which he can split in half. It’s a little accessory, but damn is it cool for what it is.
And, of course, he gets two alternate heads to join his stoic standard one. The first has him slightly irritated, either mid-speech or just gritting his teeth, and the second unleashes the heat vision.
There has been some variance on the color and detail paint of these heads, but, for the most part, they can come across a little pale and a little flat. I’m wondering if there is a running change because all three of mine look really good. Obviously, Cavill is still kind of pale, but there are slight hints of red around his nose and eyes that potentially don’t come through on the camera well.
The eyes are perfect and the overal sculpt of the heads is strong, reflecting the actor very well. Who, after watching the film yet again this week, is … yeah, kind of pale. (A side-note, if you haven’t watched the movie, particularly the extended cut, in a few months, give it another go. I enjoyed it in theaters, despite the obvious issues, and enjoyed it more on release, but this last time revealed there is a “slow burn” this movie does to you that really does yield more over time. And now having the figures doesn’t hurt, either.) The heat vision head in particular is a lot more engaging in person than it had seemed in pictures, and it has a sort-of “hidden” feature to it: hold it to a strong light source for a moment and it will pick up a red glow. And in low light it looks really, really cool. Tough to photograph, but I got at least one rough shot to add here. Fwoosh doesn’t afford me the FLIR gear that I need. yet.
The figure uses mostly the same body as the other similarly built characters recently released in the line, but thanks to his neck and possibly his boots, he comes out a little taller. The articulation is the same high standard, and that means there’s plenty of solid flight poses he can pull off. If I used the included flight stands for these figures, this would be the one that could most take advantage. Like Batman, the occasionally maligned ankle joint works pretty well here, maybe the best so far, which helps a lot with the flying and hovering.
Another thing the pictures just doesn’t convey enough is just how impressive his uniform is. Done in a deep blue with metallic texturing, the suit actually shimmers a bit in regular light. The lighter metallic blue and gold details are impressively clean, and the reds of the shield, cape, and boots all match up very well. The cape is a light material that flows easily and is connected to the figure via the neck piece, which keeps it securely around his collar. In person, this Superman exudes a powerful, regal presence. Not surprisingly, he reminds me some of his look in the Injustice game, which means I cannot wait for more cinematic DC figures for him stand with, and maybe against.
I was not overly excited about this figure following some of the delay he suffered. I was confident that he would be a good figure, but I wasn’t sure how committed I was going to be to the DC movie line. But following the resurgence of Knightmare Batman (THANK YOU!!!) and the early looks at the Justice League, I realized there was no way I could pass on him.
And truly, I’m very glad I didn’t. I had intended to maybe do some repainting, adjust some anticipated shortcomings on his heads, but that’s looking unnecessary now. This Superman might not be exactly what everyone’s looking for at the moment, but I expect he may end up a “sleeper” hit that folks will regret not getting earlier. There will likely be other movie versions, and certainly more Supermen, but this one is here, now, and is ready to go. And he is pretty damn excellent.
