McFarlane DC Multiverse Lex Luthor and General Zod review

Superman's villains generally aim to be at a power level comparable to the Man of Steel, especially when exploiting any weakness of his or being part of the same race. Such is the case with Lex Luthor and General Zod, respectively. One wants to rid the world of metahumans and aims to take control of everything under his own rule. At the same time, another sees Superman as a betrayal of the Kryptonian culture in plenty of iterations. While they would probably hate each other in general, we at least get to pit them together as part of a two-in-one review from McFarlante Toys, featuring Power Suit Lex based on his New 52 look and General Zod as he appeared in the DC Rebirth.

Here we have Lex Luthor in hand. Lex Luthor normally utilizes a green and purple power suit to put himself on par with the Legion of Doom while standing up against Superman, which any sane person would logically do if they faced up against him. The design for the Power Suit is heavily detailed and a great upgrade from how the suits normally look in the retro style. It's much more tactile and still fits well with the classic colors associated with Lex. With how much McFarlane tends to deviate from the source material with added details here and there, this suit ends up being similar to, but not exactly like, the way it was presented in the comic run at the time. It's nothing egregious like the wack proportions of the BTAS Batman made in the first wave of figures, but it is still worth mentioning. Also, he comes packaged with weapon-holding hands but nothing to hold. Are Kryptonite blasters ALSO part of the Warner Bros firearms ban?! That's not at the fault of McFarlane Toys, but it still baffles me how Warner Bros thinks removing sci fi range weapons from action figures will somehow solve gun violence problems.

As for General Zod, his armor appears to be closer to the comic art than Lex was, which is a huge plus as someone who prefers to see him in this design. I always preferred the idea of the character wearing armor to keep him distinct from someone like Superman. While the deco is monochromatic unlike Lex's, it compliments the powerful warrior aesthetics seen in a Kryptonian warlord like himself. The silver is at least painted, and the cape, though not cloth goods, is at least sculpted in a regal manner. The two tone silvers are also appreciative, as are the red and gold here and there. Just a remarkable design that befits the character. 

Each of their head sculpts look good, though while General Zod could use an angrier expression, Lex Luthor should be facing forward rather than stare off to the left. It's good for certain photos, but if you're going to have a face look in a different direction, why not have that be used for alternate heads?

Their articulation is standard for both figures, with more limitations for Zod. Double-ball neck joints, ball joints for front and back motion in addition to having them shift around with the rotator cuffs hiding said joint, hinges for outward arm movement, bicep rotation, double-jointed elbows, and double-purpose wrists that can rotate at two pegs, with the connection at the forearm allowing the hands to hinge either vertically or horizontally. The torso includes a diaphragm joint and dumbbell waist, hips can move front and back as well as in and out, slight thigh rotation is included, knees bend with double-joints, and the feet can rotate, hinge, and pivot. Finally, the toes can bend for natural walking poses.

While Lex comes with a more open right hand and a left fist, Zod has a pair of hands that are splayed open as well as accessory-holding hands yet nothing to hold...again...I wish Lex came with some Kryptonite to hold in addition to both having alternate heads to showcase alternate emotions.

One big issue with Zod is how poorly the shoulder pads are glued. The rigid portion of the cape means there is little room for error when moving the arms up, yet it may be a case where the shoulder pads were either dependent on the paint drying up or the glue being used at a minimum. That is something I plan to fix, but as always, I shouldn't have to...though your mileage may very with QC.

As far as reuses are concerned, we have a completely gray Zod that is meant to look like a prototype but is otherwise only useful to be a statue, a Gold Label variant of Power Suit Lex depicting him in a Superman-esque design, and a separate character retool in the form of Atomic Skull, who was included in a 2-pack with a lighter-blue Action Comics 1000 Superman. 

Finally, here they are with Superman, a common foe of theirs. The scale works well with the armored characters, though it may also be Superman being a bit shorter than normal. Perhaps the new body used on Earth 2, Reeve, and Fleischer may scale better. Overall, Lex and Zod are good purchases for the price I got them at (less than $20 each, especially Zod at $8). I always appreciate the sculpted details for their armored suits, but I am still annoyed that they have accessory holding hands with nothing to hold. In addition, Zod suffers from having his shoulder pads come off from possibly inferior glue while Lex's side eye will annoy anyone who wants their characters looking straight.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (for both)