Batman and Iron Man are more or less the same character archetypes from their respective comic book companies. Both of them don’t have any superhuman abilities and rely only on specialized tools and gadgets. While I’m personally biased with Tony Stark and his countless Iron Man suits, Bruce Wayne does come close during that moment in The Dark Knight Returns when he needed to build one for his fight against Superman.
After releasing The Dark Knight Returns version of Batman in several iterartions, Medicom is finally coming out with the version I’ll most likely end up buying. This is Armored Batman as seen in the Frank Miller’s aforementioned storyline, which also inspired the version that appeared in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It’s not as flashy as any of Tony Stark’s Iron Man armors but it’s a definite statement of function over form as this allowed Batman to go against Superman.
Looking at these profile shots, the figure really captures the simple yet gritty design of this power armor. Correct me if I’m wrong, but outside of the MAFEX version shown here, the only other action figure of this design is Mattel’s DC Multiverse version back in 2016. It was an okay figure especially in the paint, but a lot is to be desired especially in the articulation department.
MAFEX answers that articulation deficit by showing in these solicitation images that despite the bulky design, you can still put the figure in dynamic poses. You will also notice that it comes with a wired cloth cape to further emphasize those dynamic poses.
For accessories, Armored Batman comes with three replacement heads, multiple replacement hands, his sonic pistol, an open palm with acid spray effect, and that canister-looking thing with some liquid coming out. Either way, this looks like one amazing figure that many has looked forward to ever since the first MAFEX The Dark Knight Returns Batman came out. Now they’ll definitely need to release the same version of Superman.
MAFEX Armored Batman (The Dark Knight Returns)
October 2021 / ¥8,800
