Yesterday, CBR dropped the official news that Mattel would be including two “New 52” versions of classic DC Universe superheroes as part of its new DC Universe All Stars toy line. DCU All Stars Series 2 would include “New 52” Superman, “New 52” Flash (I honestly can’t tell the difference between this version of The Flash and every other Barry Allen version but whatever), Red Robin (this has to be Earth 2 Red Robin, right? No way high school age Tim Drake is this big or this buff), and “evil” Supergirl. The Blot talked about this release briefly on Twitter yesterday, but I thought a full blown blog post might be in order.
Seeing this “New 52” Superman action figure up close has really gotten me depressed. Not only could I care less about a Superman toy in this costume, most of America is going to be wondering why he looks so weird. @JeffRReid summed it up best, “That dude looks like Ultraman (of The Crime Syndicate), not Superman.” Warner Bros, DC and Mattel need to stop kidding themselves…America’s Superman wears his tight red undies on the outside!
Between this new comic book uniform and the one they’re using in the upcoming Man of Steel live action movie, Warner Bros is really missing out on a golden opportunity to bring Superman back to the mainstream. I don’t think the costume will be the reason Clark Kent isn’t back on the top of the superhero hierarchy, but it definitely isn’t helping. While I'm fine with DC's reboot of its comic book universe, I've come to hate most of their redesigns. They seem needless and extremely overworked. Because of that, I can honestly say I won’t be buying any of these “New 52” action figures from Mattel or DC Direct (unless they release a Booster Gold action figure that is).
