I look back on older waves and wish I capitalized on that. It took me too long to appreciate DC. Now, we’ve got Gotham Knights, and regardless of if the game is good or bad, I wanted to have all of those characters in a set. We’ve gotten the four of them across the years in separate sets and that’s why I wish I collected stuff back then.
@@thatsruffdog yeah in the years that mentioned i wasn't in to lego so missed bunch of the sets back then i dont why lego cant do it like marvel where they remake some of the old sets like they did back in the day.
I have said it multiple times but LEGO should base Super Heroes based off the comics and other media outside of the films. Imagine the amount of sets?!
Nowadays they just dont doing nothing risky, as you see no new series, no ne liecences just what sells best. Marvel, starwars, city, ninjago milk it all the way. You heard the fist thing they were babuling about its marketing and money That what they care. There are passionate people there but the rule go from the big guys not from the creative onces. A toy of creativity my a#@!
They probably would, if the designers had some creative vision. Their sets based on the comics are pretty poor. So many of them are remakes of previous ones, like the whole 2012 wave. All Lego could be bothered doing was endless variations of Bat-branded vehicles. The fact we only ever got one set of Javelin/Invisible Jet/Green Lantern Jet etc etc is borderline criminal
I miss the X-Men sets, sure there weren't many but there were enough. That Sentinel build is still pretty good to this day and we all know how Lego loves to make mechs, they could easily make a set that's just a Sentinel with a bunch of X-Men fighting it
Not even counting the fact this is an anniversary this is probably the worst year for super hero sets. We got 0 typical DC sets with 2 sets only intended for small groups (Lego art fans and 4+ fans) and I don’t count the Batman sets since they were easily accessible last year. Marvel had some really bad sets with the Hulkbuster (being not just the worst set of the year but the worst Super Hero set ever and one of the worst Lego sets I have ever seen) and Black Panther Bust taking the lead. There are a few good sets but almost nothing I wanted to get.
@@dragazoidyt4464 That is not a super heroes set, so it is not relevant. The Sanctum is one of the only good sets from this year (there are a few with good figures but ok to bad builds).
I grew up with the Superheros playsets, I loved how most of the time they would be not based on any movies or anything, and most of the sets would be like "the jokers super epic mega death ray gun with batman plane" and the kid playing with them could make up whatever they wanted, that's what made Lego so good. Now I've got myself a job and can afford most of the 18+ display sets, and yes I like them, and I don't think I'd be buying and playsets even if they where out now, but it's still sad to think there's an entire generation growing up without that amazing theme
It's a nice theory, but it doesn't really add up once you think about it. WB wants IP's to make profit. Toys merchandising is a large part of that. They were clearly on board before, hence sets based on Man Of Steel, BvS, Justice League etc. So what's changed? The issue really boils down to 2 things in tandem: 1) Superheroes theme shares one budget. Every MCU set takes money away from DC 2) Disney/Marvel have been ramping up their output. Each new character basically creates a new franchise. Ant-Man got a movie, therefore sequels. Black Panther got a movie, therefore sequels. So on and so on. 10 years ago, Marvel just had the core Avengers characters to play with. So over time, Lego have to make more and more sets. In 2012, there was only Avengers. 2013, Lego only made Iron Man 3 sets. 2014, only Guardians sets. That's basically one MCU line up per year. Then 2015 comes, there are sets for both Ultron and Ant-Man. 2016, Civil War and Doctor Strange. 2017 - Lego made three lineups, for Guardians 2, Homecoming, and Ragnarok. 2021, Lego made *FOUR* lineups for Marvel. Black Widow, Shang Chi, Eternals, and No Way Home. That's more Lego output in 2 years than DC in 5, considering most of their movies since Josstice League have had sweet FA from Lego. If anything, it's Lego themselves are to blame. If they won't split the budget between Marvel and DC, but Marvel keep making more movies per year, then Lego just keeps devoting more of that shared budget to Marvel and depriving DC of the opportunities.
@@InhabitantOfOddworldhonestly yeah that split theory def could make sense. But i for sure think its a Lego thing because Warner Bros definitely don’t care they just want money.
@@lostintoonami It's definitely the case. Look at Marvel's MCU release timeline and compare it with what Lego Superheroes have done each year. Marvel now makes more movies per year, so it gets more sets. DC now gets less.
A problem I have with the ‘characters/shows aren’t popular enough’ is first off, the Lego Batman movie made unknown characters into minifigs, and also another thing is that I think if they made the characters, then more attention can be brought to these characters which leads to better sales
It’s pretty much what I expected. They’re not doing it intentionally but it’s just DC or LEGO Corporate making these decisions. Not the designers. It’s just great that it’s finally confirmed.
While this does make the situation a little more clear, I’m still calling some BS. Yes, the DC tv shows are a more “American” demographic but that hasn’t stopped them before. Those examples you have are perfect. Also they’ve made figures for those shows already and even had them in the Lego games. I understand that Kids are the focus as it should be but they have made it clear in the last few years that they are also focusing on adult collectors and I think they underestimate how well these sets would sell with us. I get that the 10 year anniversary wasn’t really up to them (if they even remembered) but friends got a 10 year anniversary, why? Because it’s an original theme by Lego and they want to pump their own tires, same with Ninjago. The only licensed themes they acknowledge are Star Wars and Harry Potter. Lastly, if they refuse to make sets for the movies. Why can’t they make comic sets or just their own designed sets? They used to all the time. What about games? They made loosely based sets for Avengers so why can’t they make Arkham sets? Overall I’m just disappointed. I mainly collect DC and own 95% of the sets but only having 1 set this year is a slap in the face. Why not make DC mechs? The marvel ones seem to do well. I know the Flash set was supposed to be this year and that’s great that we already will match the amount of sets this year, next year but I just don’t know what they’re doing. The theme isn’t doing well because they aren’t making sets for it, funny how that works. If they’re so focused on Batman than why not make Batman Forever or Batman and Robin sets? Or even minifig scale 89 or TDK sets? Those would sell. More 60’s sets would too. Again, I don’t know fully what’s in their control but there’s been precedent with some of my points. Thank you to anyone who read this whole thing. I’m just tired of us DC fans being neglected.
In the interview from Mini Superheroes today they said that DC is not cancelled, but they are still using the same excuse that lego makes based on the "it's not a Movie/worldwide phenomenom" even the designer seems frustrated by that.
As if movies are all we have in life. Course toys are aimed at kids mainley and that is how they learn about fictional medea like fantasy and scifi but thier are still uther sources of interest that people use for entertainment. Course I grewup in the mid 80s and 90s so how I learned like going to the library and such is diferent but it's sortof a dumb excuse for dc lebos it's not popular as a movie.
I don’t really collect DC anymore but I don’t think it should be cancelled! Also I wish they would actually make a set from Arrow cause it’s probably the best DC thing in a while
I stopped colectind dc sets once it became nothing but Batman. I buy old sets and figures from ebay or something cause lego won't make what I want so I build my owne. I make a citty like scene with some office and store buildings and have the heroes and villians in a big brawl scene in the town with the residence fleeing in tereor or some crazy reporter taking pictures of the fight.
Respectfully, kids in Germany know there’s a Green Arrow tv show. Kids in BELGIUM know there’s a green arrow show. Most everyday people, parents and stuff know because it aired on main cable channels that were readily available, when it was airing I remember tons of people talking about it. I know it’s a specific thing but all I’m saying is it’s not exclusive to the US
This was a very interesting and insightful video. Thanks for sharing, Ash. I think it makes sense why there were fewer No Way Home sets, and I do like the possibility of No Way Home-related sets released under the Spider-Man label, and with this logic we could also get Batman sets based off of older Batman movies like Batman Begins or Batman Forever or Batman Returns or even more Batman ‘89 sets. Their excuse for not doing any anniversary celebrations for Marvel Superheroes seems weak to me, when they managed to do a 10 year anniversary for Lego Friends and a 20 year anniversary for Harry Potter without a problem.
And if it's all possible, then we can convince Disney and Warner Brothers and LEGO to work together to save both LEGO Dimensions and Disney Infinity, together at the same time.
i seriously don’t understand the “well the dc shows/movies arent that popular so we cant make sets,” even though we can just get comic book sets. 2012-2016 were considered the golden age for lego dc, and it was mostly because of the comic sets.
I just want more sets man, I just want good minifigures of all the characters I love and good builds, regardless of if it’s dc or marvel. These superhero themes should be one of the top selling themes, but LEGO is dropping the ball when it comes to it, this year especially. I know they make sets years in advance, but at least make the sets good even if it’s inaccurate . I love marvel and dc, and want it to get the sets it deserves and sets I know lego can make. Great video and I look forward to the next interview you get!
Regarding them (meaning Lego and the studios) not wanting spoilers in Lego sets, it makes sense. Some earlier Lego super heroes sets had spoilers, like the set from the Wonder Woman movie that had Ares as the villain. That set was released before the movie was and before it was revealed that Ares was the villain.
I think I’ve got some answers to some of the points you’re making, So first off I think the reason why we didn’t get any Black Adam sets was probably because in the last couple of years DC’s attitude has been one of fear and retreat probably feeling that Black Adam like Shazam! in 2019 was too risky. Walter Hamada I have definitely noticed has been more focused on trying out risks and my guess is the two visions just clashed for Lego, that would explain why Batman has been the only focus for the last three years (with the only exception being the WW84 set). The good news though is that Walter Hamada is no longer in charge of DC, now it is being headed by James Gunn who is looking to try and repeat Marvel’s success with DC, so I would be expecting more Lego DC content in the future, probably starting 2024. As for Marvel, the only thing I can guess is the Disney+ content is just too much to handle.
Regarding Marvel's Disney Plus shows not really having sets, I think that's probably a combination of a few different factors. One, a lot of those shows went under a heavy reshoots Part way through production so any sets they had made would probably be slightly outdated and off once the actual show came out. Second of all, a lot of those shows were made under a severe time crunch in which Lego wouldn't really be able to make good sets before they came out. And a third of all, like you said there's just so many of them that it would be nearly impossible to make a good amount of sets for each of them
Here's where I think the biggest issue with DC is for Lego, given their reasoning. If they are trying to make sure that sets coincide with the release of major media, DC has been TERRIBLE at having films release on time. Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Batgirl, etc which all have potential for big Lego set releases have all been moved around the 2022/2023 schedule. The only film that arrived on time was The Batman and hey, look at that, we got Lego sets for that movie. If you're trying to design products that coincide with major releases and the studio keeps moving around the release date, how are you supposed to prepare for that? Black Adam was moved up by six months, Shazam moved back by three. Batgirl got cancelled out of the blue and The Flash is in a limbo where there's no way of knowing when the movie is gonna come out. If Lego was going to keep up with the mess over at WBD and DC, they would have to be setting aside warehouses of sets for movies that might not even release on time for upwards of 6 months before the movie is slated for release just in case Warner Bros Discovery changes their mind and releases the movie early. I would not be surprised if Black Adam and Shazam were supposed to get sets, but those releases got cancelled because they can't keep adjusting their release windows to match DC's scheduling. Compare that to Marvel. Outside of the Pandemic, when they say a movie is coming out, you can be pretty sure the movie is coming out around then. So, when it comes to planning out a schedule for releases, they know what movie is coming out when and can plan a year of regular releases. If you're Lego, it's probably easier to work with Marvel's very standard release windows compared to DC where the movie that your set is based off might not even come out.
@@mrmola3295 I totally agree, but from what Marc is saying in this video, there seems to be a lot of demand from WBD and Lego's Marketing team to do more direct tie-ins to movies rather than comic sets. I also just think the superheros team might just be too small at this point to handle the volume of sets that are necessitated from Marvel in a given year. Marc in this interview also said that the Bugle was a passion project he developed outside of work and pitched. Thats one of the very few comic-based sets we've gotten the last two years, so that says to me that Lego's marketing department wants the team to focus on movie sets as opposed to comic-based one
Let's say this is the true reason, hypothetically (I don't think it is) Those MCU sets release MONTHS before the film does anyway Channels like this showed off the sets for Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange 2 etc way way before the movie came out. So, if Lego did produce Black Adam sets, would it really matter if they were available six months ago? Probably not. Merch also helps to build hype for movies, so it would be in both party's interest The shared Marvel-DC budget is the real issue. The reason we're not getting DC sets is because Lego is funnelling resources into crap like the HulkBuster and Black Panther statue
@@InhabitantOfOddworld The problem is that DC doesn't push back movies, they push up. It doesn't matter if Black Adam sets are a few months early, but when the movie is pushed up 6 months earlier than expected that means Lego would be doing tie ins 4-6 months after the movie comes out, because they would have been working on sets for Shazam 2, which is now 6 months later than expected. Merch can build hype, but its way harder to follow up hype with merch, and DC's messy schedule is a very good reason why I can see Lego not wanting to bother trying to time with movies. Why bother designing or marketing a DC set when the movie it's meant to tie into might get moved up by half a year when you can just make another Marvel set where the deadlines are set in stone. Releasing early is fine, releasing late is a death sentence for licensed sets.
It's tragic what's happening to the Heroes theme especially DC....I still think they could do an anaversary theme for both theame's for the next anaversary
I love how they’re trying to come up with excuses for DC but they’re just lazy. Black Adam is a success and Lego could throw together a hover bike pursuit set and a bigger Nth metal ship set and people would buy them, there’s still time for that but nope… a huge letdown, I had hopes w this video but they’re all gone (the video is amazing tho, I hope you had a great time in Billund !)
Hate to break it to you LEGO fans, but your favourite bricks are just not an efficient way to profit off licensed merchandise for superhero stuff. While LEGO works pretty well with Star Wars due to that franchise having many iconic vehicles and even some buildings, superheroes generally do without these. Your average superhero fan will be much more interested in getting faithful interpretations of their favourite characters instead of a jet for Spider-Man or a mech for Batman with simplistic minifigs. This is precisely why LEGO is trying to break into the market of premium adult collectables with stuff like the Black Panther bust or the newest Hulkbuster to more efficiently use the license (which, ironically, is backfiring). But the thing is that for the asking price of these sets there's plenty other premium, and actually faithful looking, items one can get - brands like Threezero, Hot Toys, Mafex, Mezco offer really nice products for fans of superheroes. And if you prefer something cheap, you can always grab a Marvel Legends or something from McFarlane. On the other hand, licensors know very well that LEGO is in a desperate position for licenses, so they just do the bare minimum of cooperation to keep the interest among kids (probably the #1 reason to do LEGO superhero stuff at all). There's no point in risking leaks for some Europe-based company at a time when it's already pretty hard to keep leaks under the lid. Especially when 90% of movie plots do not translate well to LEGO sets to begin with. How would No Way Home sets benefit from LEGO designers knowing the plot? There would be a bunch of extra minifigs and that's it. If Disney wasn't willing to risk it for Hasbro and other companies doing action figures, then they sure wouldn't risk it for LEGO just for them to make a Spider-Car vs Sandman set with Tobey Maguire.
Remember when they made lego batman movie and they took the opportunity to make pretty much every character that they would never again get the chance to make? Because of that we have this really weird ratio of lots of A-list characters, very few B-list characters, a massive amount of C-D list characters. No booster gold, no guy Gardner, no miss Martian, no normal bizzarro But instead we have characters like super friends native stereotype and egg man. And we probably never will get many of the fan favourite B-list DC characters.
Also as far as DC and Marvel, why are they only focusing on movies and TV shows. There is so many things of media y'know? Like do something from comics OR make something new that people can make a story for. Like back in 2008 batman. Those were super creative sets that had no connection to any mainstream media
I think that LEGO isn't making the DC sets due to the fact of its lacking popularity. From our eyes, DC may be something we are all interested in, but in LEGO's eyes, it may just be a throwaway so that they can focus on making giant Marvel sets like the Hulkbuster and Black Panther Bust.
I feel like you answered your own question about the lack of disney plus sets. It's not available to a portion of counties, marvel like to keep these shows and movies underwrap, and just the lack of a younger fan base for the shows.
I think the main reason that they haven't making more non-Batman sets is because there weren't MANY non-Batman films. Same goes with the Disney+ stuff. Sure there are Marvel stuff they haven't released but as LEGO mentions, they release movies.
I am speaking as a croatian, We Got Disney+ around May this year, Arrowverse shows were Here since around 2014, around first couple of seasons of arrow and flash, so really what he Said couldnt be more wrong about diffrent places in the world not having Cw shows while having Disney+ ones, beacouse Here it was completly opposite for a lot while
As you said, disney+ is not available everywhere, and DC films are too mature. Black Adam is killing too much. But on the other hand, new batman is brutal as well... So batman get a pass for some reason.
Don't forget how many minifigures of Carnage they've released over the years, one of the most brutal and sadistic characters at marvel with a high body count.
@@BossBast1 I totally agree with you. Both joker and carnage are neck-and-neck in high kill counts and have had dozens of minifigures released over the years. Venom has done horrible things and his quest to destroy Spider-Man and protect the innocent, and killer croc is a cold-blooded cannibalistic murderer. Either the people at lego are supreme hypocrites, or there's something else more nefarious at work.
The real REAL issue is the shared Marvel-DC budget. Anything else, about DC movie popularity or release dates, are excuses and cope. The reason we're not getting more DC sets is because the MCU is a juggernaut in itself. Lego is funneling resources into Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange 2, No Way Home, Black Panther 2, and additional crap like the horrendous Hulkbuster and Black Panther statuette. Lego NEEDS to split the budget, for the sake of both DC and Marvel, which keeps getting bigger with each new character. It won't be long before we start getting Ant-Man 2 sets, or GoTG 3 sets. Each Marvel set takes away from a potential DC set. Remember that.
@@Ashnflash There's lots of research you can do to back such a video. For example, the release schedule of the MCU. The Lego theme began in 2012, and at that time, Marvel only had The Avengers. Lego didn't go back to any Phase 1 movies to start with. 2013, they only made Iron Man 3 sets even though Dark World released. 2014, they only made Guardians sets, even though Winter Soldier released. Over those initial three years therefore, Lego only made one official MCU line up per year. 2015, that ramps up to two. 2015 brings Ultron and Ant-Man. 2016 brings Civil War and Doctor Strange. That's only two line-ups per year. Bear in mind that 2015 was arguably the end of Lego DC's own golden age. 2017 marks three line-ups per year. Guardians 2, Homecoming, and Ragnarok. 2018, Black Panther, Infinity War, and Ant-Man 2. 2019, same again with Captain Marvel, Endgame, and Far From Home. Bear in mind here that 2017-18 marks the death spiral for the Lego DC. Onward, it gets worse. 2021 brings us a mega *FOUR* Marvel Lego lineups for the year. Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, and No Way Home. 2022 brought us back to three with Thor 4, Doctor Strange 2, and Black Panther 2. 2023 is set to bring us Ant-Man 3, Guardians 3, and Captain Marvel 2, so I fully expect another three lego sets/line-up of sets for each movie. Now, bear in mind again that Lego share the budget for DC and Marvel. They also share designers too, I believe. This means that every Marvel project and every DC project is inversely correlated. The more Marvel, the less DC. Back in the day, when Lego only had to fund Iron Man 3 sets for the year, other designers cracked on with designing and budgeting those DC sets we got. The last real DC output we got was 2017's Justice League and the ~2018 lineup of comic sets (Luthor's mech, Cyborg's helicopter, Lobo's bike etc). Sets do take time to design, so that will have been greenlighted probably at least a year earlier. 2016 still had a rhythm of only two lineups a year, manageable. Since then, Lego have been hit with 3/4 per year from Marvel, so DC has really slowed, either due to lack of budget, lack of designers on the theme, or both. Anything about DC movies simply isn't true. They *could* have done more for Aquaman in 2018, but they focused on the huge Infinity War wave as well as Black Panther and Ant-Man 2. They could have bothered with Shazam sets, but for Lego, 2019 was all about another bumper wave of Endgame sets alongside Cap Marvel and FFH.
I can understand not making something that is not global look at the futbol stadiums all of them are on deep clearance on the LEGO website. At the same time we got two friends sets which is a heavily American sitcom.
20 years. The 2002 Spider-Man sets were THE very first super hero sets and it’s the 20th anniversary of those movies so this year should’ve been a doubleversary for superheroes AND Spider-Man
Basically Lego is a soul-crushing corporation that wants to make all the money with only the most popular and lucrative licenses. The designers working on unlicensed themes probably have a lot more creative freedom.
Hey, Ashnflash you have a huge fanbase do you think you could start a petition to make Lego Arrowverse, and do you think it would help to make sets from the Arrowverse
Those dudes seem kinda rude the way they answer your questions. They could have used better wording or something but it seems like being fans they’re not trying too hard fight for better Super Heroes sets. Kudos to you for not asking your questions in a negative way and being respectful for the answers you were given.
@@Ashnflash 2023 and still waiting for accurate NWH sets because this might be the last time characters like electro, green goblin, doc ock, etc appear in marvel movies and shows. Why would lego want to miss this once in a lifetime chance
I kind of wish Lego Batman would be treated as its own separate theme, so that the DC sets aren't taken up solely by Batman sets. Like, Batman has an extensive rogues gallery, and as long as the sets are well designed and interesting (which is a big "if" I know) then they could really be their own theme. Then, Lego DC could focus much more on other members of the Justice League, without having to force Batman into each set somewhere. Kind of like how Spider-Man is doing its own thing separate to the rest of Lego Marvel. That'd mean more sets, and more budget being allocated towards DC, yes. But they just made a £500 Hulkbuster that is pretty awful, and not many people like. I'm sure they can divide up that sort of budget across a DC and Batman theme and makes some pretty cool sets. It's just a double-edged sword at the moment. If they do less Batman, sales might go down and we might lose out on important Bat-family figures that we're missing (Red Robin, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain Batgirls, Oracle, etc) and also Batman villains (Mad Hatter, Hush, etc). If they do more Batman, we get far less variety as far as DC characters are concerned, and we risk getting really dull sets like another variation of the Batmobile, with no villain vehicles or (heaven forbid) actual buildings and dioramas. But tbh, SOMETHING would be better than nothing. And this year (not counting The Batman wave of sets) we only got one set. They really need to do comic inspired sets, they can't keep waiting for movies to come out so they can do vague promotions like Shazam in a random Batman set. Marvel has a similar issue, just a bit less prominent. More focus on comic book inspired sets would be really welcome.
In a perfect world I would love for Lego to have like 3-5 licensed themes, contain marvel/dc sets not based on the movies cause most of those are bland compared to the original stuff, Mario is cool and I would love to see it keep going, and probably Star Wars, and then have Lego have like 8 original themes at a time like city, space, castle/Vikings, monster fighters, chima, Jonny thunder, Agents, and a constraction figure line. I sucks that they only have like 2 original themes and then keep making licensed sets for movies, heck the reason I think Mario is one of the better themes for me is that is a breath of fresh air like chima was for me, it just sad that legos original themes end up competing with each other rather then working with each other like they use too, like come on clutch powers showed us how city, space, agents, power miners and castle could connect why not do something like that again.
I think you're right. His passion rrally does shine through for both DC and marvel. Just from the way his voice sounded it seemed very disheartened for the way things are headed for DC. What it seems like it really comes down to is the state DC is in. The fact of the matter seems that DC's movies and content are just not as successful as Marvel and I really feel like we have Warner Bros to blame for this. At the very start of the DCEU Warner felt like they needed to play catchup to marvel. They rushed into creating a universe with little to no planning beforehand. Especially now with the disastrous Warner Discovery merger, I think DC may have to wait a little longer to get back to the level it was in 2012-2016. Hopefully the passion that the designers and Leads have on DC can keep DC relevant until then.
Does anyone else think LEGO could get away with crossing over the DC and Marvel Universes? They could invent combined universe LEGO sets. Maybe an Avengers Mansion with a Batcave attached. Or a Hall of Doom combined with Doctor Doom's castle. Who wouldn't want a LEGO Marvel vs. DC: the Video Game?
The reason they remembered Friends and Modulars was because they aren’t licensed. Also, they would’ve planned the set in late 2021 where COVID was still getting used to. They had to focus on original themes.
Like the video says. The Super Heroes team themselves forgot. Yes, the marketing team would plan a big thing around it. But not even the designers realized.
@@Ashnflash so I'm assuming that the Spiderman no way home sets are canceled. Welp so much for updated spidey villains that would have sold like hot cakes
Lego should really revisit No Way Home. In my mind there's a zero percent chance that the sets would sell poorly even though the movie isn't a fresh release. It seems like it would be so easy to the point where it could be just minifigs pack and they'd be printing cash. Even people who aren't the biggest Spider-Man fans but really loved No Way Home [me] would want a set that has all three Spidies and villains. A UCS/Master Builder battle at the Statue of Liberty set seems an easy home run. At this point there's no rational reason for Disney/Marvel to be against "spoiling" the movie either, so it should be all good there unless they don't want them made for some weird reason. I guess there's also a solid chance that there are sets already in the development cycle and will get announced in the next year or few. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the great information and analysis!
Given how big of a success the film is. I hope so, I really do. But this year in ways has kinda burned me so I don't want to get my hopes up, you know?
I think LEGO as a company simply isn’t as concerned with DC as it is with other IPs. Remember, their first priority is to make money, and if they don’t see DC making them profit, or if the profit isn’t worth the hassle of dodging all the legality issues and the entire mess that DC and Warner Bros. has been lately then you could see why they haven’t explored DC as much.
"They aren't making any movies." Ok??? And??? Movies don't have to equal sets. Bros could've made so many sets based off the comics or make original ideas for sets like they did in 2012 - 2016
DC is consistently putting out animated films surely some of them could be sets, although I hate it what about teen titans go that got a big screen movie?. Personally I think a lot of the issues are the shakeup at wb and the movie slate being woogied around Spider-Man was supposed to be after doctor strange and flash was supposed to be before black adam so I get Lego scrambling to keep up
Price hikes for worse quality, the loss of non-licensed themes, the demise of superheroes... Kinda feels like we're witnessing the fall off of Lego ngl
Another point: the whole schtick about "muh movies!" is a weak excuse on Lego's part. Let's break it down: 1) there are a number of movies that never got sets at the time of their release. Shazam, Suicide Squad x2, Birds of Prey, Joker, Black Adam etc. Lego can't genuinely claim there is a lack of IP when they've left a good half of it unused. 2) Lego is more than happy to retroactively release movie sets. Look at Iron Monger, 14 years after the fact. Look at them carrying on with UCS Razor Crest design and production when they knew it got blown up very early on. So what's stopping them going back over the DC catalogue? 3) Lego are also more than happy to make loosely related game material. There have been a number of figs and sets clearly inspired by the design of the Avengers game. So why not anything inspired by Arkham? None of Lego's reasoning about DC makes coherent sense or adds up with their other actions. The simple fact is that their money, time, and designers are too heavily invested in the Marvel lineup.
Saying "we don't go into that, as it's a business question" is a bit of a cop-out. Also, the comments about the exposure too, is a cop-out...saying the Green Arrow series wouldn't be watched by people in Germany where Disney+ series would, that's simply not true... the viewing figures for most MCU Disney+ series - if reports are to be believed, are not very good. Both Marvel and DC have decades of publishing, animation and live-action history - why do they just have to base sets on current product? The problem for me is simply the quality and creativity of the sets... when people see another Batcycle on shelves I can understand low sales... Minifigures are a big selling point too - so as you point out, no sets for Black Adam... a set from that film with a Doctor Fate - vac-metalled gold helmet would have been a huge seller... the minifigure scale Tumbler and 1966 Batmobiles were huge sellers... out of stock quite often over here in the UK... so it shows, well thought out sets sell. And to concentrate on Marvel... well I question how well do Marvel sets sell? They didn't make the top 5 themes, even though it's a huge box office draw.
I miss the 2016, 2015 era of DC, when they actually did make wonderfull sets with Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash and all that.
i loved that watve
I look back on older waves and wish I capitalized on that. It took me too long to appreciate DC.
Now, we’ve got Gotham Knights, and regardless of if the game is good or bad, I wanted to have all of those characters in a set. We’ve gotten the four of them across the years in separate sets and that’s why I wish I collected stuff back then.
@@thatsruffdog yeah in the years that mentioned i wasn't in to lego so missed bunch of the sets back then i dont why lego cant do it like marvel where they remake some of the old sets like they did back in the day.
And where legos didn’t cost $10000000000
I got the Green Lantern set. I was through the roof when I saw it at target!
I have said it multiple times but LEGO should base Super Heroes based off the comics and other media outside of the films. Imagine the amount of sets?!
They used to be
@@kaicraft8144 i know. But it would be nice to see that again
Nowadays they just dont doing nothing risky, as you see no new series, no ne liecences just what sells best.
Marvel, starwars, city, ninjago milk it all the way.
You heard the fist thing they were babuling about its marketing and money
That what they care.
There are passionate people there but the rule go from the big guys not from the creative onces.
A toy of creativity my a#@!
They probably would, if the designers had some creative vision.
Their sets based on the comics are pretty poor. So many of them are remakes of previous ones, like the whole 2012 wave.
All Lego could be bothered doing was endless variations of Bat-branded vehicles.
The fact we only ever got one set of Javelin/Invisible Jet/Green Lantern Jet etc etc is borderline criminal
I miss the X-Men sets, sure there weren't many but there were enough. That Sentinel build is still pretty good to this day and we all know how Lego loves to make mechs, they could easily make a set that's just a Sentinel with a bunch of X-Men fighting it
I’m so glad we got that 4+ set for Batman’s 10 year, I couldn’t ask for a better set
Yes I'm so glad they did that because I don't know where I would have got the figures or prints
😂😂😂
I admit I got one. 🥹
The Harley is so different and the Batman has changed entirely
Yeah but too much and hard for me
Not even counting the fact this is an anniversary this is probably the worst year for super hero sets. We got 0 typical DC sets with 2 sets only intended for small groups (Lego art fans and 4+ fans) and I don’t count the Batman sets since they were easily accessible last year.
Marvel had some really bad sets with the Hulkbuster (being not just the worst set of the year but the worst Super Hero set ever and one of the worst Lego sets I have ever seen) and Black Panther Bust taking the lead. There are a few good sets but almost nothing I wanted to get.
Ngl the lego transfromers was fire
@@dragazoidyt4464 That is not a super heroes set, so it is not relevant. The Sanctum is one of the only good sets from this year (there are a few with good figures but ok to bad builds).
I grew up with the Superheros playsets, I loved how most of the time they would be not based on any movies or anything, and most of the sets would be like "the jokers super epic mega death ray gun with batman plane" and the kid playing with them could make up whatever they wanted, that's what made Lego so good. Now I've got myself a job and can afford most of the 18+ display sets, and yes I like them, and I don't think I'd be buying and playsets even if they where out now, but it's still sad to think there's an entire generation growing up without that amazing theme
Lego superheroes sets dose well
I feel like it is the studios significantly limiting what Lego is allowed to make based on these franchises
It's a nice theory, but it doesn't really add up once you think about it.
WB wants IP's to make profit. Toys merchandising is a large part of that. They were clearly on board before, hence sets based on Man Of Steel, BvS, Justice League etc.
So what's changed?
The issue really boils down to 2 things in tandem:
1) Superheroes theme shares one budget. Every MCU set takes money away from DC
2) Disney/Marvel have been ramping up their output. Each new character basically creates a new franchise. Ant-Man got a movie, therefore sequels. Black Panther got a movie, therefore sequels. So on and so on. 10 years ago, Marvel just had the core Avengers characters to play with.
So over time, Lego have to make more and more sets. In 2012, there was only Avengers. 2013, Lego only made Iron Man 3 sets. 2014, only Guardians sets. That's basically one MCU line up per year.
Then 2015 comes, there are sets for both Ultron and Ant-Man. 2016, Civil War and Doctor Strange.
2017 - Lego made three lineups, for Guardians 2, Homecoming, and Ragnarok.
2021, Lego made *FOUR* lineups for Marvel. Black Widow, Shang Chi, Eternals, and No Way Home.
That's more Lego output in 2 years than DC in 5, considering most of their movies since Josstice League have had sweet FA from Lego.
If anything, it's Lego themselves are to blame. If they won't split the budget between Marvel and DC, but Marvel keep making more movies per year, then Lego just keeps devoting more of that shared budget to Marvel and depriving DC of the opportunities.
@@InhabitantOfOddworld they should split the superheroes line into DC and Marvel
@@InhabitantOfOddworldhonestly yeah that split theory def could make sense. But i for sure think its a Lego thing because Warner Bros definitely don’t care they just want money.
@@lostintoonami
It's definitely the case. Look at Marvel's MCU release timeline and compare it with what Lego Superheroes have done each year.
Marvel now makes more movies per year, so it gets more sets. DC now gets less.
A problem I have with the ‘characters/shows aren’t popular enough’ is first off, the Lego Batman movie made unknown characters into minifigs, and also another thing is that I think if they made the characters, then more attention can be brought to these characters which leads to better sales
I’m curious to hear their excuse to having 1 DC set this year
Same
Same
"We forgor"
The real answer: mix of budget and lack of effort
They just didn't have any sets to make for DC lol.
It’s pretty much what I expected. They’re not doing it intentionally but it’s just DC or LEGO Corporate making these decisions. Not the designers. It’s just great that it’s finally confirmed.
While this does make the situation a little more clear, I’m still calling some BS.
Yes, the DC tv shows are a more “American” demographic but that hasn’t stopped them before. Those examples you have are perfect. Also they’ve made figures for those shows already and even had them in the Lego games. I understand that Kids are the focus as it should be but they have made it clear in the last few years that they are also focusing on adult collectors and I think they underestimate how well these sets would sell with us.
I get that the 10 year anniversary wasn’t really up to them (if they even remembered) but friends got a 10 year anniversary, why? Because it’s an original theme by Lego and they want to pump their own tires, same with Ninjago. The only licensed themes they acknowledge are Star Wars and Harry Potter.
Lastly, if they refuse to make sets for the movies. Why can’t they make comic sets or just their own designed sets? They used to all the time. What about games? They made loosely based sets for Avengers so why can’t they make Arkham sets?
Overall I’m just disappointed. I mainly collect DC and own 95% of the sets but only having 1 set this year is a slap in the face. Why not make DC mechs? The marvel ones seem to do well. I know the Flash set was supposed to be this year and that’s great that we already will match the amount of sets this year, next year but I just don’t know what they’re doing. The theme isn’t doing well because they aren’t making sets for it, funny how that works. If they’re so focused on Batman than why not make Batman Forever or Batman and Robin sets? Or even minifig scale 89 or TDK sets? Those would sell. More 60’s sets would too.
Again, I don’t know fully what’s in their control but there’s been precedent with some of my points.
Thank you to anyone who read this whole thing. I’m just tired of us DC fans being neglected.
Yeah but who wants a Flash set based on Ezra when he's wanted by police in six countries?
In the interview from Mini Superheroes today they said that DC is not cancelled, but they are still using the same excuse that lego makes based on the "it's not a Movie/worldwide phenomenom" even the designer seems frustrated by that.
Oh dear. We need to bring the Band back together.
As if movies are all we have in life. Course toys are aimed at kids mainley and that is how they learn about fictional medea like fantasy and scifi but thier are still uther sources of interest that people use for entertainment. Course I grewup in the mid 80s and 90s so how I learned like going to the library and such is diferent but it's sortof a dumb excuse for dc lebos it's not popular as a movie.
I don’t really collect DC anymore but I don’t think it should be cancelled! Also I wish they would actually make a set from Arrow cause it’s probably the best DC thing in a while
you don’t collect because there is nothing TO COLLECT
I do collect it, and I need more sets
Some facts.
Arrow was like 10 years ago tho. The good Arrow, before it dragged out and everyone quit watching
I stopped colectind dc sets once it became nothing but Batman. I buy old sets and figures from ebay or something cause lego won't make what I want so I build my owne. I make a citty like scene with some office and store buildings and have the heroes and villians in a big brawl scene in the town with the residence fleeing in tereor or some crazy reporter taking pictures of the fight.
Thanks for asking. Its nice to know they have big fans of these characters working on them
im so glad someone is covering this. Lego needs to know how the fans feel about DC and the lack of sets. so much hypocrisy and we can all see it.
Respectfully, kids in Germany know there’s a Green Arrow tv show.
Kids in BELGIUM know there’s a green arrow show. Most everyday people, parents and stuff know because it aired on main cable channels that were readily available, when it was airing I remember tons of people talking about it.
I know it’s a specific thing but all I’m saying is it’s not exclusive to the US
This was a very interesting and insightful video. Thanks for sharing, Ash. I think it makes sense why there were fewer No Way Home sets, and I do like the possibility of No Way Home-related sets released under the Spider-Man label, and with this logic we could also get Batman sets based off of older Batman movies like Batman Begins or Batman Forever or Batman Returns or even more Batman ‘89 sets. Their excuse for not doing any anniversary celebrations for Marvel Superheroes seems weak to me, when they managed to do a 10 year anniversary for Lego Friends and a 20 year anniversary for Harry Potter without a problem.
I hope we get more DC sets for 2023.
Facts.
And if it's all possible, then we can convince Disney and Warner Brothers and LEGO to work together to save both LEGO Dimensions and Disney Infinity, together at the same time.
That's awesome you and Minisuperheroestoday got to ask them about DC Superheroes! You guys are great embassadors of LEGO Superheroes! 👍
Thanks for asking those difficult questions! Much appreciated!
These videos are good because we know we're not alone feeling this way bit it wakes up the pain every time ...
i seriously don’t understand the “well the dc shows/movies arent that popular so we cant make sets,” even though we can just get comic book sets. 2012-2016 were considered the golden age for lego dc, and it was mostly because of the comic sets.
I just want more sets man, I just want good minifigures of all the characters I love and good builds, regardless of if it’s dc or marvel. These superhero themes should be one of the top selling themes, but LEGO is dropping the ball when it comes to it, this year especially. I know they make sets years in advance, but at least make the sets good even if it’s inaccurate . I love marvel and dc, and want it to get the sets it deserves and sets I know lego can make. Great video and I look forward to the next interview you get!
Facts.
It's so cool to see my favorite Lego RUclipsrs together in a photo at Lego headquarters. So cool you got to see Minisuperherostoday.
Regarding them (meaning Lego and the studios) not wanting spoilers in Lego sets, it makes sense. Some earlier Lego super heroes sets had spoilers, like the set from the Wonder Woman movie that had Ares as the villain. That set was released before the movie was and before it was revealed that Ares was the villain.
It’s such an interesting point to see them talk about that they do
I love that Black Panthor bust and I display it proudly 😅
I think I’ve got some answers to some of the points you’re making,
So first off I think the reason why we didn’t get any Black Adam sets was probably because in the last couple of years DC’s attitude has been one of fear and retreat probably feeling that Black Adam like Shazam! in 2019 was too risky. Walter Hamada I have definitely noticed has been more focused on trying out risks and my guess is the two visions just clashed for Lego, that would explain why Batman has been the only focus for the last three years (with the only exception being the WW84 set).
The good news though is that Walter Hamada is no longer in charge of DC, now it is being headed by James Gunn who is looking to try and repeat Marvel’s success with DC, so I would be expecting more Lego DC content in the future, probably starting 2024.
As for Marvel, the only thing I can guess is the Disney+ content is just too much to handle.
Regarding Marvel's Disney Plus shows not really having sets, I think that's probably a combination of a few different factors. One, a lot of those shows went under a heavy reshoots Part way through production so any sets they had made would probably be slightly outdated and off once the actual show came out. Second of all, a lot of those shows were made under a severe time crunch in which Lego wouldn't really be able to make good sets before they came out. And a third of all, like you said there's just so many of them that it would be nearly impossible to make a good amount of sets for each of them
Here's where I think the biggest issue with DC is for Lego, given their reasoning. If they are trying to make sure that sets coincide with the release of major media, DC has been TERRIBLE at having films release on time. Black Adam, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Batgirl, etc which all have potential for big Lego set releases have all been moved around the 2022/2023 schedule. The only film that arrived on time was The Batman and hey, look at that, we got Lego sets for that movie.
If you're trying to design products that coincide with major releases and the studio keeps moving around the release date, how are you supposed to prepare for that? Black Adam was moved up by six months, Shazam moved back by three. Batgirl got cancelled out of the blue and The Flash is in a limbo where there's no way of knowing when the movie is gonna come out. If Lego was going to keep up with the mess over at WBD and DC, they would have to be setting aside warehouses of sets for movies that might not even release on time for upwards of 6 months before the movie is slated for release just in case Warner Bros Discovery changes their mind and releases the movie early. I would not be surprised if Black Adam and Shazam were supposed to get sets, but those releases got cancelled because they can't keep adjusting their release windows to match DC's scheduling.
Compare that to Marvel. Outside of the Pandemic, when they say a movie is coming out, you can be pretty sure the movie is coming out around then. So, when it comes to planning out a schedule for releases, they know what movie is coming out when and can plan a year of regular releases. If you're Lego, it's probably easier to work with Marvel's very standard release windows compared to DC where the movie that your set is based off might not even come out.
Easy fix. Just make sets based on the comics not movies.
They should just go back to release non-film related stuff.
@@mrmola3295 I totally agree, but from what Marc is saying in this video, there seems to be a lot of demand from WBD and Lego's Marketing team to do more direct tie-ins to movies rather than comic sets.
I also just think the superheros team might just be too small at this point to handle the volume of sets that are necessitated from Marvel in a given year. Marc in this interview also said that the Bugle was a passion project he developed outside of work and pitched. Thats one of the very few comic-based sets we've gotten the last two years, so that says to me that Lego's marketing department wants the team to focus on movie sets as opposed to comic-based one
Let's say this is the true reason, hypothetically (I don't think it is)
Those MCU sets release MONTHS before the film does anyway
Channels like this showed off the sets for Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange 2 etc way way before the movie came out.
So, if Lego did produce Black Adam sets, would it really matter if they were available six months ago? Probably not.
Merch also helps to build hype for movies, so it would be in both party's interest
The shared Marvel-DC budget is the real issue. The reason we're not getting DC sets is because Lego is funnelling resources into crap like the HulkBuster and Black Panther statue
@@InhabitantOfOddworld The problem is that DC doesn't push back movies, they push up. It doesn't matter if Black Adam sets are a few months early, but when the movie is pushed up 6 months earlier than expected that means Lego would be doing tie ins 4-6 months after the movie comes out, because they would have been working on sets for Shazam 2, which is now 6 months later than expected.
Merch can build hype, but its way harder to follow up hype with merch, and DC's messy schedule is a very good reason why I can see Lego not wanting to bother trying to time with movies. Why bother designing or marketing a DC set when the movie it's meant to tie into might get moved up by half a year when you can just make another Marvel set where the deadlines are set in stone.
Releasing early is fine, releasing late is a death sentence for licensed sets.
It's tragic what's happening to the Heroes theme especially DC....I still think they could do an anaversary theme for both theame's for the next anaversary
the fact we never got Toby, Andrew and Tom spiderman in 1 set is a crime.
I love how they’re trying to come up with excuses for DC but they’re just lazy. Black Adam is a success and Lego could throw together a hover bike pursuit set and a bigger Nth metal ship set and people would buy them, there’s still time for that but nope… a huge letdown, I had hopes w this video but they’re all gone (the video is amazing tho, I hope you had a great time in Billund !)
Hate to break it to you LEGO fans, but your favourite bricks are just not an efficient way to profit off licensed merchandise for superhero stuff. While LEGO works pretty well with Star Wars due to that franchise having many iconic vehicles and even some buildings, superheroes generally do without these. Your average superhero fan will be much more interested in getting faithful interpretations of their favourite characters instead of a jet for Spider-Man or a mech for Batman with simplistic minifigs. This is precisely why LEGO is trying to break into the market of premium adult collectables with stuff like the Black Panther bust or the newest Hulkbuster to more efficiently use the license (which, ironically, is backfiring). But the thing is that for the asking price of these sets there's plenty other premium, and actually faithful looking, items one can get - brands like Threezero, Hot Toys, Mafex, Mezco offer really nice products for fans of superheroes. And if you prefer something cheap, you can always grab a Marvel Legends or something from McFarlane.
On the other hand, licensors know very well that LEGO is in a desperate position for licenses, so they just do the bare minimum of cooperation to keep the interest among kids (probably the #1 reason to do LEGO superhero stuff at all). There's no point in risking leaks for some Europe-based company at a time when it's already pretty hard to keep leaks under the lid. Especially when 90% of movie plots do not translate well to LEGO sets to begin with. How would No Way Home sets benefit from LEGO designers knowing the plot? There would be a bunch of extra minifigs and that's it. If Disney wasn't willing to risk it for Hasbro and other companies doing action figures, then they sure wouldn't risk it for LEGO just for them to make a Spider-Car vs Sandman set with Tobey Maguire.
Remember when they made lego batman movie and they took the opportunity to make pretty much every character that they would never again get the chance to make? Because of that we have this really weird ratio of lots of A-list characters, very few B-list characters, a massive amount of C-D list characters. No booster gold, no guy Gardner, no miss Martian, no normal bizzarro
But instead we have characters like super friends native stereotype and egg man. And we probably never will get many of the fan favourite B-list DC characters.
So is this a Rant ? 🧐 tbh I hope we get a series 2 Minifigure series but I’m very hopeful for 2023
Also as far as DC and Marvel, why are they only focusing on movies and TV shows. There is so many things of media y'know? Like do something from comics OR make something new that people can make a story for. Like back in 2008 batman. Those were super creative sets that had no connection to any mainstream media
I think that LEGO isn't making the DC sets due to the fact of its lacking popularity. From our eyes, DC may be something we are all interested in, but in LEGO's eyes, it may just be a throwaway so that they can focus on making giant Marvel sets like the Hulkbuster and Black Panther Bust.
I feel like you answered your own question about the lack of disney plus sets. It's not available to a portion of counties, marvel like to keep these shows and movies underwrap, and just the lack of a younger fan base for the shows.
Great job Ash!
i’m kinda glad they forgot if all they were gonna do was golden figures, but this year for marvel sets has been lacklustre so idk
I hope one day Lego DC comes back
I think the main reason that they haven't making more non-Batman sets is because there weren't MANY non-Batman films. Same goes with the Disney+ stuff. Sure there are Marvel stuff they haven't released but as LEGO mentions, they release movies.
I am speaking as a croatian,
We Got Disney+ around May this year, Arrowverse shows were Here since around 2014, around first couple of seasons of arrow and flash, so really what he Said couldnt be more wrong about diffrent places in the world not having Cw shows while having Disney+ ones, beacouse Here it was completly opposite for a lot while
At this point I already bought older Batman and dc sets to get every Batman figure villains and justice league
Still need a Raven and Dr Fate.
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 that’s true I do want dr fate and black Adam
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 raven exists
@@dcenjoyer7536 I mean a Raven that isn’t from Teen Titans Go. We need one that actually matches the style of the other titans figures released.
@@frenchfriedbagel7035 I agree
Tony Stark : "Everything is gonna work out exactly the way it’s supposed to."
Sure, don't make sets for The Suicide Squad or Black Adam, but to not make sets on League of Super Pets, an ACTUAL kids movie, is mind boggling.
I know right?
As you said, disney+ is not available everywhere, and DC films are too mature. Black Adam is killing too much. But on the other hand, new batman is brutal as well... So batman get a pass for some reason.
Don't forget how many minifigures of Carnage they've released over the years, one of the most brutal and sadistic characters at marvel with a high body count.
@@kaijuking3216 venom is not any better... True true... Joker as well... Killer croc, so many brutal killers...
@@BossBast1 I totally agree with you. Both joker and carnage are neck-and-neck in high kill counts and have had dozens of minifigures released over the years. Venom has done horrible things and his quest to destroy Spider-Man and protect the innocent, and killer croc is a cold-blooded cannibalistic murderer.
Either the people at lego are supreme hypocrites, or there's something else more nefarious at work.
Good video mate! watched from A to Z
The real REAL issue is the shared Marvel-DC budget. Anything else, about DC movie popularity or release dates, are excuses and cope.
The reason we're not getting more DC sets is because the MCU is a juggernaut in itself. Lego is funneling resources into Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange 2, No Way Home, Black Panther 2, and additional crap like the horrendous Hulkbuster and Black Panther statuette.
Lego NEEDS to split the budget, for the sake of both DC and Marvel, which keeps getting bigger with each new character. It won't be long before we start getting Ant-Man 2 sets, or GoTG 3 sets.
Each Marvel set takes away from a potential DC set. Remember that.
100% - I originally recorded a bit talking about that but I figured that could be its own video
@@Ashnflash
There's lots of research you can do to back such a video.
For example, the release schedule of the MCU.
The Lego theme began in 2012, and at that time, Marvel only had The Avengers. Lego didn't go back to any Phase 1 movies to start with.
2013, they only made Iron Man 3 sets even though Dark World released.
2014, they only made Guardians sets, even though Winter Soldier released.
Over those initial three years therefore, Lego only made one official MCU line up per year.
2015, that ramps up to two. 2015 brings Ultron and Ant-Man. 2016 brings Civil War and Doctor Strange.
That's only two line-ups per year.
Bear in mind that 2015 was arguably the end of Lego DC's own golden age.
2017 marks three line-ups per year. Guardians 2, Homecoming, and Ragnarok. 2018, Black Panther, Infinity War, and Ant-Man 2. 2019, same again with Captain Marvel, Endgame, and Far From Home.
Bear in mind here that 2017-18 marks the death spiral for the Lego DC.
Onward, it gets worse. 2021 brings us a mega *FOUR* Marvel Lego lineups for the year. Black Widow, Shang-Chi, Eternals, and No Way Home. 2022 brought us back to three with Thor 4, Doctor Strange 2, and Black Panther 2.
2023 is set to bring us Ant-Man 3, Guardians 3, and Captain Marvel 2, so I fully expect another three lego sets/line-up of sets for each movie.
Now, bear in mind again that Lego share the budget for DC and Marvel. They also share designers too, I believe. This means that every Marvel project and every DC project is inversely correlated. The more Marvel, the less DC.
Back in the day, when Lego only had to fund Iron Man 3 sets for the year, other designers cracked on with designing and budgeting those DC sets we got.
The last real DC output we got was 2017's Justice League and the ~2018 lineup of comic sets (Luthor's mech, Cyborg's helicopter, Lobo's bike etc).
Sets do take time to design, so that will have been greenlighted probably at least a year earlier. 2016 still had a rhythm of only two lineups a year, manageable.
Since then, Lego have been hit with 3/4 per year from Marvel, so DC has really slowed, either due to lack of budget, lack of designers on the theme, or both.
Anything about DC movies simply isn't true. They *could* have done more for Aquaman in 2018, but they focused on the huge Infinity War wave as well as Black Panther and Ant-Man 2.
They could have bothered with Shazam sets, but for Lego, 2019 was all about another bumper wave of Endgame sets alongside Cap Marvel and FFH.
@@Ashnflash Please do it.
Oh here we go
I can understand not making something that is not global look at the futbol stadiums all of them are on deep clearance on the LEGO website.
At the same time we got two friends sets which is a heavily American sitcom.
20 years. The 2002 Spider-Man sets were THE very first super hero sets and it’s the 20th anniversary of those movies so this year should’ve been a doubleversary for superheroes AND Spider-Man
Basically Lego is a soul-crushing corporation that wants to make all the money with only the most popular and lucrative licenses.
The designers working on unlicensed themes probably have a lot more creative freedom.
I hope he has a day off and makes Oscorp tower or the hall of justice
Ahaha that’d be nice
I hope DC sets make a come back soon…
Hey, Ashnflash you have a huge fanbase do you think you could start a petition to make Lego Arrowverse, and do you think it would help to make sets from the Arrowverse
7:57: Audio clip you had in mind? For your interview in upcoming DC videos?
Those dudes seem kinda rude the way they answer your questions. They could have used better wording or something but it seems like being fans they’re not trying too hard fight for better Super Heroes sets.
Kudos to you for not asking your questions in a negative way and being respectful for the answers you were given.
I hope we get Lego X-men sets soon!!!
Me too…. Me too….
Were slowly getting there with the Wolverine mech, upcoming MCU movies and firestar and namor, mutants in the comics, now in sets
@@Ashnflash 2023 and still waiting for accurate NWH sets
because this might be the last time characters like electro, green goblin, doc ock, etc appear in marvel movies and shows.
Why would lego want to miss this once in a lifetime chance
I LOVE dc. It makes me very sad to see that the theme that made me adore Lego has almost died😔
Great ashnflash Lego DC COMICS SETS 👍
2017 was the Golden Age of LEGO Marvel imo
I would also include the sanctum for multiverse of one of the Disney plus shows
Shazam fury of the gods isn’t getting any sets either which sucks
I just hope we get amazing dc sets again
Be cool to interview a parts designer/ developer
I kind of wish Lego Batman would be treated as its own separate theme, so that the DC sets aren't taken up solely by Batman sets. Like, Batman has an extensive rogues gallery, and as long as the sets are well designed and interesting (which is a big "if" I know) then they could really be their own theme. Then, Lego DC could focus much more on other members of the Justice League, without having to force Batman into each set somewhere. Kind of like how Spider-Man is doing its own thing separate to the rest of Lego Marvel.
That'd mean more sets, and more budget being allocated towards DC, yes. But they just made a £500 Hulkbuster that is pretty awful, and not many people like. I'm sure they can divide up that sort of budget across a DC and Batman theme and makes some pretty cool sets.
It's just a double-edged sword at the moment. If they do less Batman, sales might go down and we might lose out on important Bat-family figures that we're missing (Red Robin, Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain Batgirls, Oracle, etc) and also Batman villains (Mad Hatter, Hush, etc). If they do more Batman, we get far less variety as far as DC characters are concerned, and we risk getting really dull sets like another variation of the Batmobile, with no villain vehicles or (heaven forbid) actual buildings and dioramas.
But tbh, SOMETHING would be better than nothing. And this year (not counting The Batman wave of sets) we only got one set. They really need to do comic inspired sets, they can't keep waiting for movies to come out so they can do vague promotions like Shazam in a random Batman set.
Marvel has a similar issue, just a bit less prominent. More focus on comic book inspired sets would be really welcome.
Very interesting indeed.
I've been waiting so long to get myself Flash figs n stuff, but they never released new sets ;-;
In a perfect world I would love for Lego to have like 3-5 licensed themes, contain marvel/dc sets not based on the movies cause most of those are bland compared to the original stuff, Mario is cool and I would love to see it keep going, and probably Star Wars, and then have Lego have like 8 original themes at a time like city, space, castle/Vikings, monster fighters, chima, Jonny thunder, Agents, and a constraction figure line. I sucks that they only have like 2 original themes and then keep making licensed sets for movies, heck the reason I think Mario is one of the better themes for me is that is a breath of fresh air like chima was for me, it just sad that legos original themes end up competing with each other rather then working with each other like they use too, like come on clutch powers showed us how city, space, agents, power miners and castle could connect why not do something like that again.
Only set shazam got was a polybag minifigure.
I think you're right. His passion rrally does shine through for both DC and marvel. Just from the way his voice sounded it seemed very disheartened for the way things are headed for DC. What it seems like it really comes down to is the state DC is in. The fact of the matter seems that DC's movies and content are just not as successful as Marvel and I really feel like we have Warner Bros to blame for this. At the very start of the DCEU Warner felt like they needed to play catchup to marvel. They rushed into creating a universe with little to no planning beforehand. Especially now with the disastrous Warner Discovery merger, I think DC may have to wait a little longer to get back to the level it was in 2012-2016. Hopefully the passion that the designers and Leads have on DC can keep DC relevant until then.
probably because Disney owns Marvel MCU and they compete with DC
Does anyone else think LEGO could get away with crossing over the DC and Marvel Universes? They could invent combined universe LEGO sets. Maybe an Avengers Mansion with a Batcave attached. Or a Hall of Doom combined with Doctor Doom's castle. Who wouldn't want a LEGO Marvel vs. DC: the Video Game?
Disney+ only had it’s worldwide release a year ago, but I agree Arrow is not very popular, specially nowadays
The reason they remembered Friends and Modulars was because they aren’t licensed. Also, they would’ve planned the set in late 2021 where COVID was still getting used to. They had to focus on original themes.
Like the video says. The Super Heroes team themselves forgot. Yes, the marketing team would plan a big thing around it. But not even the designers realized.
@@Ashnflash As for the answers to my questions?
I do not see any questions
@@Ashnflash The LEGO Ninjago Cake episode and your audio clip for future
DC videos you had in mind.
@@Ashnflash Why did they forget?
Also, any future DC videos you have don't have an audio clip. Why are you even suggesting using an audio clip?
I wish they would include a green arrow fig in a set
it upsets me that they dont do comic book sets, made up sets that arent recycled and reused figures like this years set, and movie sets of course
If we got an astral t’challa I would have bought the set.
I know your'e not alone in thinking that
@@Ashnflash so I'm assuming that the Spiderman no way home sets are canceled. Welp so much for updated spidey villains that would have sold like hot cakes
you can't be serious
they FORGOT the anniversary!?
THEY FORGOT!?!?
i miss 2019 when it was 80 year anniversary for batman and we got those cool sets I love the 2019 wave the only one id don't have is the submarine
I really look back on those fondly. That's why I used that Batcave in this video :)
@@Ashnflash I love how much love dc was getting back then
If i would add one more question would be, why does DC and Marvel are considered as a same license?
0:23 Is this ashnflashs real face or is he never going to reveal it
Lego should really revisit No Way Home. In my mind there's a zero percent chance that the sets would sell poorly even though the movie isn't a fresh release. It seems like it would be so easy to the point where it could be just minifigs pack and they'd be printing cash. Even people who aren't the biggest Spider-Man fans but really loved No Way Home [me] would want a set that has all three Spidies and villains. A UCS/Master Builder battle at the Statue of Liberty set seems an easy home run. At this point there's no rational reason for Disney/Marvel to be against "spoiling" the movie either, so it should be all good there unless they don't want them made for some weird reason.
I guess there's also a solid chance that there are sets already in the development cycle and will get announced in the next year or few. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the great information and analysis!
Given how big of a success the film is. I hope so, I really do. But this year in ways has kinda burned me so I don't want to get my hopes up, you know?
Some facts.
How about the HBO MAX/NetFlix & DC shows that are shown Internationally.?.
I thought that was lego diddy in the thumbnail
They could have packaged The Suicide Squad and Snyder's Justice League into one wave.
I wish they would make some sets off of the Arkham games.
I wonder if theres an incident that made marvel avoid or dont even care for the lego sets, i truly wonder
I think LEGO as a company simply isn’t as concerned with DC as it is with other IPs. Remember, their first priority is to make money, and if they don’t see DC making them profit, or if the profit isn’t worth the hassle of dodging all the legality issues and the entire mess that DC and Warner Bros. has been lately then you could see why they haven’t explored DC as much.
"They aren't making any movies." Ok??? And??? Movies don't have to equal sets. Bros could've made so many sets based off the comics or make original ideas for sets like they did in 2012 - 2016
Dude, this is a very obvious answer, haha! Clearly if WB DC isn't marketing anything, we're not getting sets or toys, ha!
DC is consistently putting out animated films surely some of them could be sets, although I hate it what about teen titans go that got a big screen movie?. Personally I think a lot of the issues are the shakeup at wb and the movie slate being woogied around Spider-Man was supposed to be after doctor strange and flash was supposed to be before black adam so I get Lego scrambling to keep up
OMG there is only 80+ of back content to base sets off of?!
Price hikes for worse quality, the loss of non-licensed themes, the demise of superheroes... Kinda feels like we're witnessing the fall off of Lego ngl
Another point: the whole schtick about "muh movies!" is a weak excuse on Lego's part. Let's break it down:
1) there are a number of movies that never got sets at the time of their release. Shazam, Suicide Squad x2, Birds of Prey, Joker, Black Adam etc. Lego can't genuinely claim there is a lack of IP when they've left a good half of it unused.
2) Lego is more than happy to retroactively release movie sets. Look at Iron Monger, 14 years after the fact. Look at them carrying on with UCS Razor Crest design and production when they knew it got blown up very early on. So what's stopping them going back over the DC catalogue?
3) Lego are also more than happy to make loosely related game material. There have been a number of figs and sets clearly inspired by the design of the Avengers game. So why not anything inspired by Arkham?
None of Lego's reasoning about DC makes coherent sense or adds up with their other actions. The simple fact is that their money, time, and designers are too heavily invested in the Marvel lineup.
Saying "we don't go into that, as it's a business question" is a bit of a cop-out.
Also, the comments about the exposure too, is a cop-out...saying the Green Arrow series wouldn't be watched by people in Germany where Disney+ series would, that's simply not true... the viewing figures for most MCU Disney+ series - if reports are to be believed, are not very good. Both Marvel and DC have decades of publishing, animation and live-action history - why do they just have to base sets on current product?
The problem for me is simply the quality and creativity of the sets... when people see another Batcycle on shelves I can understand low sales... Minifigures are a big selling point too - so as you point out, no sets for Black Adam... a set from that film with a Doctor Fate - vac-metalled gold helmet would have been a huge seller... the minifigure scale Tumbler and 1966 Batmobiles were huge sellers... out of stock quite often over here in the UK... so it shows, well thought out sets sell.
And to concentrate on Marvel... well I question how well do Marvel sets sell? They didn't make the top 5 themes, even though it's a huge box office draw.
If McFarlane can make any figure from DC what's Legos excuse ?
That’s why I don’t think it’s Warner Bros or DC because there are plenty of other toys out there being made. Even for Black Adam
@@Ashnflash exactly look at old DC sets back in the day what the hell happened why was that stopped?
Why did you review Jesper C. Nielsen?
sets based off comics > sets based on movies
This is going to be great