Look out, here comes Spider-Man!
Web slinging back into action, and back into the shops, are a brand new series of collectable Lego Minifigures based on everyone’s favourite Marvel character, Spider-Man and his friends across the multiverse. Based on the film of the same name, many of the characters seen in this set are inspired by the characters you can find in the animated movie series; featuring Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Peter Parker with Mayday Parker, Miguel O’hara and many more! Though this set comes out years after the release and success of the second instalment of the film series, many are excited to get their hands on some of their favourite characters as well as a handful of fun background Spider-Man variants as seen in the movie.
Lego often goes all out with their Lego Minifigure ranges, as many have seen in the past their minifigure collections often include special or new printing techniques so that the minifigures have better details than one found in a normal set. The Lego Minifigures Spider-Man series is no different as many of the minis include new side leg and arm prints that really expand upon the details of the characters. The new prints for Miles Morales using his lightning powers is a great detail and makes for an excellent minifigure to use for both types of fans; those that enjoy playing with the minifigures as toys and others that enjoy to collect, pose and show off their collections. A unique print that can be found in the set with the new Werewolf Spider-Man which includes unique printing to show off the classic Spider-Man mask being ripped off partly due to the transformation.
Many of these minifigures will make great additions to previously existing sets in the Lego range. such as the Daily Bugle tower which already features a larger number of Spider-Man characters as well as many street level crimefighters like the wall crawler. But this set is very much a collectible series of minifigures in comparison to less specific minifigure series’ that have a wide collection of characters from many old and new themes that can be played with as toys. This is also evident in the addition of a brand new, clear orange base piece for the characters to stand on top of. Though there are no prints on the base, like seen in the Dungeons & Dragons set, the colour feels like a deliberate choice as much of the technology and holographic designs seen in Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse feature as this exact colour and transparency.
Following on from this, many of the characters in this set are featured in the movie franchise of the same name. Fans are able to get their hands on many favourite characters and background characters that popped up in the movie that they like the design off. But even with the variety of characters and designs that were implemented in the movie, not many of the unique or nostalgic variants were included. A couple fan favourites from the comics and characters that appeared prominently in the movie, the Scarlet Spider and Spider-Woman do not receive minifigures in this set alongside characters like Spider-Punk and Spider-Man India. The selection of background character spider-men are also quite niche; I personally am a fan of cowboys and Spider-Man, so seeing a minifigure of Web Slinger be included is great, but Werewolf Spider-Man and Cyber Spider-Woman feel a bit too obscure considering they likely only show up for a few seconds in the film.
Overall, the set is fun and a great addition to the collections of Marvel, Spider-Man and Minifigure fans that enjoy either some or all of the minifigures that can be found in the set. Though this feels like a series that is more likely to be collected, most of the figures will look great as part of other sets that have come out or as minifigures in a dioragma. I hope that a second wave or series of this comes out so that we can see more of the characters featured or even possibly some of the villain variants that appear in the movie, such as the DaVinci style Vulture, or even more of the Spider-Man variants from the first film, such as Spider-Ham and Spider-Noir.
