Here we have Batman in-hand, and it feels great to have a version of the character that better matches the anatomy I would want from a more traditional comic Batman. I know there will be fans that do like the bucks used for the Batman Hush tooling, which fits the artstyle of a bulkier Batman that we saw from Jim Lee, but I always felt that McFarlane made the anatomy feel weird, like the shoulders felt lower than normal and the upper body so disconnected from the lower body. Still better than the Detective Comics 1000 version of Batman from the first wave, but you can tell how a case of "third time's a charm" (assuming this is the third base tooling for a normal comic Batman, sorry my McFarlane DC Multiverse knowledge is not good) pushed McFarlane to nail the proper anatomy of this Batman, capturing the right physique of his comic counterpart, in addition to making the wrinkling of the costume more believable. The logo is embossed and painted nicely, the gray and the blue look like they're in the proper hues, and the cape...is still pre-posed, but is it one of the better capes that the character is given from McFarlane. An overall success for this character's plastic depictions from the comics.
His head sculpt is done marvelously, capturing the bronze age aesthetics that were carried over into the modern age, hence his look in Batman Knightfall. The blue thankfully doesn't look washed out even without the black shading. His articulation is standard McFarlane affairs, move front and back, in and out (on both a butterfly joint and a shoulder swivel come hinge), bicep swivels, double-elbow bends, and wrists that swivel and hinge at two points (as well as having the wrists have the ability to both move in and out or up and down). There are two torso joints for the diaphragm joint as well as the abs, hips that move front and back, in and out, swivel at the thighs, bend at two points at the knees, and the ankles can swivel, hinge, and pivot. Topping off the articulation points are the toes that can bend. He features alternate hands that are easy to swap and a single Batarang in addition to the stand so that is a bummer. Even the wrist joints blend in better with the sculpt.
For a comparison with previous main Batman bucks, in the middle is the limited edition variant with a more detailed cowl and figure-exclusive stand with the buck on the left being the blue and gray Batman: Hush buck while the right is McFarlane's first ever Batman sculpt utilizing the Detective Comics #1000 tooling in the more classic colors. I think if these three were stacked on a winning podium, Knightfall wins first place for having great proportions and nailing the shades of colors right. The version of Hush Batman we have here is not too bad, but the shoulders hang too low and don't compliment the bulkier sculpt that well. I'm also sure the black and gray version would fit this look better. Detective Comics #1000 has too many problems, let's be honest.
For another Batman comparison, on the right is my Tactical Batfleck from ZSJL, and on the right is the Mattel DCUC version of Batman using my favorite logo for the character in comic form that isn't in an oval. I like how I can now utilize two different versions of Batman that are in the same scale and articulate perfectly. Meanwhile, the DCUC guy is better than the version of Batman for the Josstice line, but Mattel still was plain. So yeah, I recommend Knightfall Batman a lot. He could use a few more accessories (a grapnel gun and an unmasked Bruce Wayne head), but at the very least he makes for a great sculpt that I feel deserves some future reuses. Maybe we can have one where the black replaces the blue and had the 2000s era most commonly used in classic Lego Batman; I'd buy that in a heartbeat!
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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