1/6 Hot Toys - The Flash - Batman and Batcycle Collectible Set

[Turtle882]

Yep that's what I hate as well. Cowl looks like it was just plonked on over the cape. They could have at least filleted the edges or something on the cowl to blend it into the cape a bit.

It's especially weird to me as HT seemed to put effort in designing a decent looking cowl/cape transition for BvS and JL. Absolutely no effort here on that front.

 

[Chopper Face]

I think it’s true that Marvel took a major hit after Endgame…

…I just don’t think the DCEU was ever all that great to begin with or that one really has anything to do with the other. Marvel stumbled badly after an extensive period of dominance DC couldn’t even begin to hope to achieve. It wasn’t just a Snyder thing; there is clearly a lot of blame to go around. But it just never got off the ground in a way to seriously rival what Marvel was doing.

This is also how I view the situation.
Marvel started pretty strong and changed the game with Avengers: Assemble; there were dips, duds, plateaus and surprise hits like Guardians along the way but they produced enough major high points to maintain the appearance of a sort of ‘consistent quality.’

Post Endgame, it’s fallen off a cliff. There are almost no beloved characters to root for atm (unless you’re Zurdo) and very little excitement or cultural significance compared to the Infinity Saga.

Spider-Man isn’t the same sort of in-house production due to Sony owning the rights so Disney’s new ‘creatives’ don’t have carte blanche to dissect and character assassinate him yet. The D+ shows have basically all ranged from trash to intolerable and insulting. They need to fundamentally change their approach at this point.

DC on the other hand, I believe, is viewed predominantly through the lens of its potential to be great as opposed to the quality of what we actually got. It’s all what ifs and shoulda beens.
‘If audiences weren’t so stupid and didn’t need to be spoon fed subtext, they’d understand what Snyder was doing in MoS’
‘Caville could have been perfect with the right script and tone- if only MoS 2 could be made,’
‘Afleck was under-utilised- Studio interference ruined BVS then Whedon over corrected his grittiness with lame humour and ruined the character! We just needed the Afleck solo movie!’
‘If only Justice League hadn’t been rushed and personal tragedy hadn’t taken Snyder off the project,’
‘If Snyder could just complete his JL trilogy, it would be the most epic, philosophically deep and world changing saga of all time!’
‘If only studios understood that directing and writing are two completely separate skillsets, they might not have given Patty Jenkins full control of Wonder Woman 2 and that wouldn’t have ultimately signalled the demise of all things Snyder related.’
I don’t really see anyone making excuses for Aquaman; you’re always gonna get exactly what we got with Momoa- and who actually cares about Aquaman?..

Ultimately, the DCEU failed at every attempt to launch with Wonder Woman being the one glimmer of hope, but that success seriously inflated some egos behind the scenes, which in turn lead to the most monumental fall from grace.

Marvel is comparatively bland and formulaic compared to the potential of the DCEU but WB was far too incompetent and disorganised to tap into that potential. So now we get Gunn.

 

[T8OO]

This is also how I view the situation.
Marvel started pretty strong and changed the game with Avengers: Assemble; there were dips, duds, plateaus and surprise hits like Guardians along the way but they produced enough major high points to maintain the appearance of a sort of ‘consistent quality.’

Post Endgame, it’s fallen off a cliff. There are almost no beloved characters to root for atm (unless you’re Zurdo) and very little excitement or cultural significance compared to the Infinity Saga.

Spider-Man isn’t the same sort of in-house production due to Sony owning the rights so Disney’s new ‘creatives’ don’t have carte blanche to dissect and character assassinate him yet. The D+ shows have basically all ranged from trash to intolerable and insulting. They need to fundamentally change their approach at this point.

DC on the other hand, I believe, is viewed predominantly through the lens of its potential to be great as opposed to the quality of what we actually got. It’s all what ifs and shoulda beens.
‘If audiences weren’t so stupid and didn’t need to be spoon fed subtext, they’d understand what Snyder was doing in MoS’
‘Caville could have been perfect with the right script and tone- if only MoS 2 could be made,’
‘Afleck was under-utilised- Studio interference ruined BVS then Whedon over corrected his grittiness with lame humour and ruined the character! We just needed the Afleck solo movie!’
‘If only Justice League hadn’t been rushed and personal tragedy hadn’t taken Snyder off the project,’
‘If Snyder could just complete his JL trilogy, it would be the most epic, philosophically deep and world changing saga of all time!’
‘If only studios understood that directing and writing are two completely separate skillsets, they might not have given Patty Jenkins full control of Wonder Woman 2 and that wouldn’t have ultimately signalled the demise of all things Snyder related.’
I don’t really see anyone making excuses for Aquaman; you’re always gonna get exactly what we got with Momoa- and who actually cares about Aquaman?..

Ultimately, the DCEU failed at every attempt to launch with Wonder Woman being the one glimmer of hope, but that success seriously inflated some egos behind the scenes, which in turn lead to the most monumental fall from grace.

Marvel is comparatively bland and formulaic compared to the potential of the DCEU but WB was far too incompetent and disorganised to tap into that potential. So now we get Gunn.

When you say it failed to launch other than Wonder Woman what do you mean? What constitutes a failure?
Man of Steel made more than Batman Begins, 9 of the X-Men movies and the first 5 MCU movies (more than 12 of them in total). 7.1 IMDb and 75% RT. How is that a failure?

 

[hbhf]

If you compare the first 4 Marvel/DCEU movies simply with box office and reviews. The DCEU had a much higher box office and a slightly lower review average and then was at a time when the MCU was king of everything and Iron Man was a bigger bame to kids than Superman or Batman.
The box office was also increasing on average from movie to movie. It never got off the ground because WB had 1 billion blinkers on for their 2nd movie and panicked.
If ZSJL or a version of it came out in 2017 before Infinity War I think it would look a lot different now. ZSJL 2 and 3 would have been coming out after Endgame and during Marvel's Phase 4. I'm not saying it would have climbed over the MCU but the general perception of the DCEU would be massively different.

Yeah, I've heard this argument repeatedly, and I don't buy that ZSJL being released would've made much of a difference after the release of BVS. As I said, blaming everything on Snyder is bull, but his movies certainly aren't blameless either in what ultimately happened. Lots of blame to go around for everyone involved.

 

[Luisenigma1]

From what I saw there were various versions of Batfleck that we had seen before.
On the bike, he was like BvS Batman. On the bridge, he was Josstice League Batman and as Bruce, he was ZSJL Bruce Wayne.

That explains why I felt cringe on how he was acting with wonder woman. I'm like you were badass a moment ago wtf is this. Lol

 

[T8OO]

Yeah, I've heard this argument repeatedly, and I don't buy that ZSJL being released would've made much of a difference after the release of BVS. As I said, blaming everything on Snyder is bull, but his movies certainly aren't blameless either in what ultimately happened. Lots of blame to go around for everyone involved.

That's a fair opinion. I completely disagree though. ZSJL is the highest rated DCEU movie. Its nearly unanimous that it's better than what came out. From MoS to Aquaman, the only blip in the increasing box office is JL 2017. Even that blip is 660m, you think it's that hard to believe that a vastly superior, more congruent movie couldn't have gotten it over the magical 1 billion threshold? I do.

BvS gets blame for Justice League's poor numbers but doesn't for Suicide Squad and Wonder Woman good numbers? Make it make sense.

 

[hbhf]

Yeah, I don’t think it would’ve done that. You can say JL’s steep decline was entirely because of Joss Whedon (who is a huge creep and *******) taking over as director, but I don’t buy it. I’m not a Snyder fan though so we’re probably not gonna agree on this. I’m trying to be diplomatic but I’ve just never bought that narrative.

But I’ve now contributed to the digression I’d hope to avoid. Oh well.

 

[T8OO]

Yeah, I don’t think it would’ve done that. You can say JL’s steep decline was entirely because of Joss Whedon (who is a huge creep and *******) taking over as director, but I don’t buy it. I’m not a Snyder fan though so we’re probably not gonna agree on this. I’m trying to be diplomatic but I’ve just never bought that narrative.

Why would a movie with just Wonder Woman make 823 million and movie with just Aquaman make 1.15 billion but the movie released in between both of them that also has Batman, Superman and the Flash make nowhere near either of them?

Surely it has to be the quality of the movie itself and not based on the movie that came out prior to the first one.

 

[hbhf]

And I think saying the direct predecessor that got horrendous reviews and a massive second week box office drop off having nothing to do with the sequel flopping is just as big a stretch. I know you’re a huge Snyder guy, but I don’t believe it. *shrugs*

But, as I said, we’ve gone pretty far off topic now so I’m just gonna leave it at that. Maybe if someone builds the cosmic treadmill to let me see that alternate universe where the Snyder Cut got released theatrically instead, i’ll go for it. But as of now, eh.

 

[T8OO]

And I think saying the direct predecessor that got horrendous reviews and a massive second week box office drop off having nothing to do with the sequel flopping is just as big a stretch. I know you’re a huge Snyder guy, but I don’t believe it. *shrugs*

But, as I said, we’ve gone pretty far off topic now so I’m just gonna leave it at that. Maybe if someone builds the cosmic treadmill to let me see that alternate universe where the Snyder Cut got released theatrically instead, i’ll go for it. But as of now, eh.

Wonder Woman was the next movie to BvS. It comes back to the same thing, WW is the next movie, AM is the next movie.

Fair enough. Back on topic.

 

[jmann]

It’s kind of weird how DC can’t just let people have their cake and eat it, too. I told my buddy that Affleck was a better Batman in 10 minutes of this movie than we saw in 7+ hours of Snyderverse content and yet, that suit looks like straight ass (and the figure’s not much better).

Honestly, if HT was smart, they’d take some creative liberties with the cowl and make it “backwards compatible” or just sneak in some additional faceplates after the fact like in the olden days.

You should apologize to your buddy lol. He was great in BvS and ZSJL. In the flash he was bumbling and awkward like he was straight outta a Josstice League sequel. No clue why they keep doing that to him. Sure he had a cool action scene for 2 minutes total but let's be honest, he already has one of the top 3 Batman action scenes of all time under his belt (warehouse scene). So that doesn't count for that much.


Either way here is another shot of the suit...

I kinda get what they were going for but man the execution turned out .. not stellar

 

[Omega9300]

There was a third party bike already released. Not sure if it is bigger or not. Might want to google for that to hunt one down if size matters....

Yeah I am aware of the “locomotive” it certainly seems larger, but I didn’t order it bk I was afraid that a big resin Batbike like that would be too subject to breaking and have in a lot of inaccuracies. But, I have to say the Locomotive is pretty cool looking though.

 

[batfan08]

Lol I highly doubt that. The warehouse scene is top tier.

Same reason why we went from “We're criminals, Alfred. We've always been criminals. Nothing's changed.” to ”Faith Alfred, Faith”. It’s this new thing called character development.

Nah. BvS had one cool action scene, but aside from that he was kind of pathetic. Snyder has such a hard-on for Frank Miller (I’m fairly certain he thinks The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are the only two DC Comics that exist) that he, once again, completely squandered a solid casting choice with his deconstructionist ********. When I go to see a Batman story, I don’t go to see some washed-up has-been acting completely out of character because he’s caught up in the throes of a mid-life crisis. If I wanted to watch that, I’d go down to a Chevy dealership and watch all the schlubby, balding 47-year olds that put down payments on new Corvettes.

 

[Mike86]

Truthfully even though the movie was crappy and the scenes were short some of Affleck at his best as Batman was in Suicide Squad if you ask me.

That’s kind of the problem with Batfleck in my mind. He just didn’t have enough of a chance to stand out on his own. He has a collection of good scenes but the movies he’s in are hit and miss and he has limited time to really shine.

 

[Sktchwlkr]

Nah. BvS had one cool action scene, but aside from that he was kind of pathetic. Snyder has such a hard-on for Frank Miller (I’m fairly certain he thinks The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are the only two DC Comics that exist) that he, once again, completely squandered a solid casting choice with his deconstructionist ********. When I go to see a Batman story, I don’t go to see some washed-up has-been acting completely out of character because he’s caught up in the throes of a mid-life crisis. If I wanted to watch that, I’d go down to a Chevy dealership and watch all the schlubby, balding 47-year olds that put down payments on new Corvettes.

Come on man, don’t forget 300 is Miller to. Sups and Batsy fight and Bats has a callback shot to the TDKR cover and you think he only took inspiration from that book alone. Ok .

 

[ironwez20]

Nah. BvS had one cool action scene, but aside from that he was kind of pathetic. Snyder has such a hard-on for Frank Miller (I’m fairly certain he thinks The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen are the only two DC Comics that exist) that he, once again, completely squandered a solid casting choice with his deconstructionist ********. When I go to see a Batman story, I don’t go to see some washed-up has-been acting completely out of character because he’s caught up in the throes of a mid-life crisis. If I wanted to watch that, I’d go down to a Chevy dealership and watch all the schlubby, balding 47-year olds that put down payments on new Corvettes.

I dislike Snyders horrible movies but I don’t think he was in the wrong here. It’s WB that keeps pushing old man Batman. Tdkr, bvs and now this. It’s very annoying actually that they keep doing this trope of Batman who stopped fighting and stays in his mansion and grows a beard and is basically a hermit or he’s just jaded and angry at the world and old. It’s annoying. I think WB just likes that stupid trope and pushed it onto bvs. A prime batman vs prime Superman would been a better story

 

[Alatar]

View attachment 645642

Come on man, don’t forget 300 is Miller to. Sups and Batsy fight and Bats has a callback shot to the TDKR cover and you think he only took inspiration from that book alone. Ok .

He’s a comic book nerd for sure with a wider range of taste than just two works. But the main reason he’s drawn to Watchmen and TDKR is that in 1986 those two runs had such an enormous impact on the comic books by establishing deconstruction of the genre. Here’s a good resource for all to understand that better if they’re unfamiliar: Zack Snyder's DCEU Is a Nine-Hour Joyride Through Decades of Comic Book History

 

[KitbashOfficer]

That explains why I felt cringe on how he was acting with wonder woman. I'm like you were badass a moment ago wtf is this. Lol

Lol, Right - this is the only piece of humor in the whole film that didn't work for me.

 

[Sktchwlkr]

He’s a comic book nerd for sure with a wider range of taste than just two works. But the main reason he’s drawn to Watchmen and TDKR is that in 1986 those two runs had such an enormous impact on the comic books by establishing deconstruction of the genre. Here’s a good resource for all to understand that better if they’re unfamiliar: Zack Snyder's DCEU Is a Nine-Hour Joyride Through Decades of Comic Book History

Oh I know, ha I was messing. I do think others should give it a read tho. Criticize current Miller all you want but no one can deny the impact he had on comics in the 80s. You can thank him for the darker/gritty version of Batman rather than campy Batman. There’s a reason why every single Bat film, except a few BF and B&R, are heavily influenced from this era of Bat history. It’s because it’s arguably the closest to a definitive version of Batman and Miller was a HUGE part of that.

 

[batfan08]

He’s a comic book nerd for sure with a wider range of taste than just two works. But the main reason he’s drawn to Watchmen and TDKR is that in 1986 those two runs had such an enormous impact on the comic books by establishing deconstruction of the genre. Here’s a good resource for all to understand that better if they’re unfamiliar: Zack Snyder's DCEU Is a Nine-Hour Joyride Through Decades of Comic Book History

Those two books are the worst thing to happen to comics since the advent of the comics code specifically for that reason. “Establishing deconstruction of the genre…”for people who are less talented, less intelligent, and who would just continue to push the envelope ad nauseam for 20+ years. Snyder’s among that lot and you need only look at his Watchmen to see why.

I cut Alan Moore a lot of slack for the same reason I cut a lot of people more slack: he’s funny. He wrote the definitive pisstake on comic books and a generation of people was too dumb to tell they were the butt of a joke. Snyder doesn’t give me the vibe of an avid comic book reader. He gives me more “I was the frat bro who shared a dorm with a nerd and picked up his copy of Watchmen one day and it blew my mind because it was edgy.” That’s the vibe I get from his movie, anyway. He somehow manages to copy and paste panel after panel while completely and utterly missing the point.

The slow motion fight scenes, the elaborate $100K a pop Hollywood quality superhero suits; the very way he frames Rorschach as the sort of righteous crusader against an increasingly evil world with his own Randian sensibilities on full display (this is a dude whose dream project is to adapt The Fountainhead, after all)…and don’t even get me started on Hallelujah. Snyder views the entire thing as a celebration of these heroes when it’s fundamentally an indictment. Miller and Moore may very well have had genius imaginations, but, make no mistake, they were still beholden to the same things in their twenties as the rest of us are: being dumb, uncertain, and angry that they didn’t have it figured out or that the world they got wasn’t the one they were promised.

These were a couple of long haired art kids trying to tell stories of heroism at a time in history that was, frankly, debilitating for people like them. The New York they lived in was still the seedy, dangerous cesspool that nobody could figure out what to do with, the nuclear threat of the Cold War was looming overhead, and good old’ Ronnie the populist was selling out the country piece by piece in the name of Capitalism, the free market, and fiscal conservativism. I like The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen, despite my disdain for what they wrought, but because they were important books that had something unique to say at a time in history when it needed to be said; when America’s heroes needed to be scrutinized.

And that’s where my issue with Snyder comes in: not everything needs to be a deconstruction and, like Wez said, we already got shades of old man Batman in Nolan’s films barely 5 years prior. Not just “Old man Batman” we got everything Snyder tried to do (but, again, smarter and more nuanced) with the post-9/11 angst and the question of freedom vs. security in The Dark Knight. Everything Snyder does, he props up like it’s the second coming of Christ and it’s not. I got to watch real people jumping out of ****ing buildings on TV as a 6-year old. My idea of escapism isn’t some guy (who would become a suicide bomber for Lex Luthor) getting his legs crushed by debris while some orphan child wanders helplessly through a dust cloud.

I get it, too. You catch me off-line and talk to me about something other than comic books and I’d be the first to tell you that the world sucks and it’s going to hell in a hand basket, but that doesn’t mean Superman does, too. In a world this hopeless, who in their right mind would want Superman, of all things, to be dour, self-doubting, and gloomily looming overhead in his dark blue suit? Batman’s superpower, for instance, is his overwhelming resilience. It’s not prep time and it’s not that he’s a human being. It’s that he can be faced with the absolute worst of the worst that humanity has to offer, regularly, and still find a reason to keep fighting.

Snyder took away all of that. He made a hopeless Superman and a broken Batman and then didn’t understand when most people didn’t respond to it. I know what his angle was: “break the toys so I can put them back together again.” It’s a cool thought experiment and, if it were an elseworlds comic, I’d probably even pick it up and read it, but to paraphrase “The Dark Knight,” it’s not the one we needed right now.