His head sculpt looks great, and I'm happy that we have a stoic expression since I always felt Superman would be a character that, even in spite of his simplicity, he would be a character you can take seriously. And keep in mind I saw his appearances in the DCAU and the Fleischer cartoons along with an occasional comic when I was lucky. He didn't usually smile as much since the media I saw as a kid was less than a decade before people started bitching about Man of Steel not being like Christopher Reeve's Superman (and making up misconceptions out of spite a la with Star Wars OT purists). Superman's articulation consists of a double-ball neck joint, ball joints for front and back arm motion in addition to having them shift around with the rotator cuffs hiding said joint, hinges for outward arm movement, bicep rotation, single-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 are double-jointed, and feet can rotate, hinge, and pivot. Finally, the toes can bend for natural walking poses. The single-jointed elbows are an issue that many have with this version of Superman since McFarlane has made some of their earlier figures inconsistent in terms of articulation, and the knee joints look pretty ugly when they're using the rest of the sculpt from the thighs rather than using a better joint cut to make the knees more natural. Also, in case you're wondering where the other Superman came from, that is the Gold Label version that came out near the end of 2024. Superman receives a richer shade of blue and a somewhat brighter shade of red. His sole retooling includes a different torso with smoother details, meaning the S-shield is flat like with many Superman figures. While it does go well for the traditional design traits of Superman, the metallic red doesn't work as well as on a three-dimensional piece. The cape, on the other hand, is upgraded to not only be made of cloth goods but also receive bendy wires to make posing feel more dynamic, whether it's from having it swoosh in the wind or from flying. It's a perfect mix of display potential and photography potential.
The back of the cape also has the S on the back, though I hope it doesn't flake off from age. I feel like it should be filled in, but that could be me seeing the cape look like that on Christopher Reeve and the Mattel DCUC version.
The two figures come with flight stands rather than the normal McFarlane DC Multiverse stands, and it's ironic how this was the first figure to utilize them while in my review site, the black suit version from the Snyder Cut was the first one I covered. Also, the Gold Label version shows the alternate hands for Superman with his hands more relaxed or for different flight poses. I don't like how the regular right hand is almost meant for him to hold a gun or some accessory, but he should have a right fist for symmetry's sake.
I randomly want to say this but I own two copies of each, believe it or not. The first copy of the 2020 mold didn't have the alternate hands, and the second one came with two left fists rather than the intended right hand. I got two because the first copy didn't arrive on time and I got another copy later on. As for Gold Label, I got one from an eBay seller and another from Walmart along with a discounted G1 Bombshell. I always intended to make a custom with double-jointed elbows and better legs, but the one I got from Walmart has his left arm break at the bicep joint. It appears that the Gold Label versions have weaker materials than the 2020 versions, especially when I tried testing out the arm swap and noticed how sturdier the joint was on the 2020 version than on the Gold Label's more flexible material.
As far as reuses are concerned, Superman has a mostly unchanged version of himself that instead comes with an alternate angry face representing his battle against Devastator. No, not the Transformers combiner, but a version of Doomsday that was originally Batman. You can tell with the black and gray along with the ears. In addition, Superman had a reuse with the Atomic Skull, only he now has brighter colors and has no metallic paint on his S-shield.
Here he is with his Mattel counterpart from the DC Universe Classics line, which I felt was a serviceable figure for its time, and while the McFarlane has issues of its own, I do appreciate the inclusion of better leg joints and a head sculpt that looks better than what Mattel did. Still, I wish he had a right fist since Mattel, at the time, went with that since he wouldn't come with alternate accessories anyhow.
And here we have him with the rest of the Trinity. I think the trio looks great together, though I feel either Superman is slightly shorter than normal or Wonder Woman is slightly taller than normal. I may look into making a custom version of the character unless McFarlane doesn't get lazy and only wants to do a better classic Superman movie for when that James Gunn flick farts its way into theaters. Until then, Action Comics 1000 is a case where I like the figure as it is, but there is still room for improvement if the figure was to be reused again. I don't think I'd use Hush Superman unless it was for customs, and I don't like the DC Classic version of Superman since it looks more like Superboy. Just be warned this figure has a good level of demand in the aftermarket, though that's nothing compared to what Wonder Woman is going for...
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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