McFarlane DC Multiverse Doomsday & Bane Mega-Figs review

While Superman and Batman changed over the first three ages of their comic history, the Modern Age gave them genuine threats that made recovering from their defeats much harder to stomach at the time. Doomsday, a Kryptonian monster from a long-gone era of violent creatures, was known as the Ultimate Killing Machine, best known, of course, for killing Superman. Prior to that moment, he had fought against several Green Lantern Corps members as well as fighting against a handful of Justice League members. After the monster and the Man of Steel were both dead, we'd see several DC heroes experience this negatively, with Batman experiencing the Knightfall story arc as Bane; the brutish yet highly intelligent escapee would take advantage of both Batman's mental decline from the deaths of Superman and Jason Todd, on top of not having any proper time to rest because of his superhero duties. To make matters worse, Bane would free several Arkham villains, while Batman's relationship with Robin would grow disconnected, in addition to there being no real synergy with Jean Paul. And as we all know, Bane literally and symbolically broke the Bat until Azbats does the same to Bane himself. We've seen these two characters get figures in the past (Bane moreso than Doomsday, who had another person with that moniker courtesy of Amanda Waller), but these two are the Gold Label releases. Let's give them the review spotlight!

Here we have Doomsday in-hand, and as far as sculpt and deco go, I think McFarlane Toys outdid themselves as one would hope. Given this is meant to be a rocky, spikey alien, it would only make sense to accentuate the surface area with. The dirty wash also helps his trunks, boots, and the few bits of his shirt tatters blend in better, which would have been a problem if they were left untouched beyond coloring them green. Normally, I'd say McFarlane DC Multiverse figures are less likely to need washes given they have mostly nicer plastic quality unlike Marvel Legends, but for a figure like this, it helps him stand out better than prior releases. Only issue I'd have is that the arms and legs appear to be slightly different tint than the torso, which is more noticeable from the back, though it could be from either material differences (similar to how Lightning Collection MMPR Red and Pink have different shades between their torsos and limbs) or to distinguish the skin from the boney appendages.

Head sculpt is done very well, and while it would have been better to have the bones that go over his eyes, I can see why they weren't included if it was to have the eyes better painted. One issue I have involves how unarticulated the ponytail is on his head; would have been nice to put it on a joint so it could be posed like it were wind swept. Speaking of, his articulation consists of a double ball joint for the neck, an opening jaw, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, rotation above the single jointed elbows, hinges within the forearms for the wrists, rotation for said wrist. He has a double ball joint for the torso, universal hips, slight rotation at the thighs, hinged knees, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot. His sole accessory is a rocky stand that at least isn't the usual McFarlane black circles almost every figure has.

The original Doomsday was included in a 2-pack with a battle damaged Superman (retooled from the Hush buck) that is much more pristine than the new version. Honestly looks like how Hasbro does their Deluxe figures sometimes. As for the one with glowing Kryptonite bones, that is a Glow in the Dark version with a muted deco and new head, representing Joshua Walker after being subject to a government experiment courtesy of Amanda Waller. Those spikes would look better in translucent green, honestly.

Here we have Doomsday next to Superman, giving them a pretty good size difference given one is a Mega-Fig and the other is a 7-inch figure. That said, the scale between these two varies depending on the artists in question. Sometimes, he's only a foot taller than Superman, other times, he's 2 feet taller.

As for Bane, this a straight reissue of the Knightfall 2-pack version, meaning he comes with the blue highlights meant to represent might reflecting on his black clothes like in the comics. Personally, I would have ditched those for this release specifically, but I'm guessing that's something meant to tie in with the Vault reissue of the original Knightfall Batman. Either way, I love the anatomy of this figure, feeling very close to the comic book physique while still being a tangible action figure requiring joint cuts here and there. Some might argue that he may be missing a specific muscle type, or it isn't represented as well, but at least the straps of his overalls hide any potential discrepancies. Not only that, but I appreciate that the belt and Venom-controlling device on his left forearm have a wash applied. The hose connecting to the head and that device is a cool touch, tough that will affect his articulation slightly and require owners to be careful in not snapping it off. Granted, the piece is flexible enough to withstand any bad warpage compared to some McFarlane accessories, but I don't want to go through the same issue that I ran into with the recent Black Series Jango Fett (and no, I haven't found a replacement because I know Amazon or Hasbro would send me an unsold Disney canon POS). The one thing I hate would be the hair painted on his shoulders. On top of how amateur it looks, why on those areas only?

His head sculpt is pretty good, apart from the left lense on my copy having slight paint misalignment. Apart from that, I will say the shading at least highlights the furrowed brow detailing somewhat as well as show the subtle stitching running down the mask. Articulation is mostly the same as Doomsday's, only he has swappable hands that have the peg and hinge implemented as well as double jointed knees. While he may have the same stand the rest of the line usually gets, he at least has a pair of first for when he needs to punch the fuck out of a fatigued Batman. 

As for Bane's history, the original version was in his modern look with green Venom tubes and more detailing for his clothes and gear. I kind of like the meaner head sculpt even more. The glow in the dark version gives him a bit of a classic deck to him, with amusingly painted laces on his boots. However, none come with alternate hands.

Here we have Bane with the superhero he crippled in the 90s, and while it's not the actual Knightfall version with the specific shades of blue and grey, normal cowl design, or molded cape, nor is it the one with the dual-colored cape, scowling head, and battle damage, the "Batman's Land" version is at least close of a representation to what the Dark Knight generally looked like during the 90s (not counting when he had a kevlar suit similar to Keaton's or his redesign in JLA). And yes, Bane can be posed breaking Batman's back without much support for either articulation or balancing either figure. As for scale, this Bane may be taller than normal, but that could easily be summed up as him using Venom in his current dose.

Overall, these two figures are a great way to kill two birds with one stone as we get closer to the end of the McFarlane run of DC Multiverse. As far as Mega-Figs go, I think I like Bane in terms of having slightly better articulation and accessory count, whereas Doomsday wins in terms of deco and sculpt. I still think the Snyder Cut duo of Darkseid and Steppenwolf are better Mega-Figs than these two since they have better articulation overall, but that could be summed up as their proportions not being as bulky. I got these two in a set from McFarlane Toy Store, and that is sadly the only way to get them both. Good luck if you missed out! Seriously, why couldn't they be sold at other retailers as well? Wouldn't be hard for other fans to get them, knowing how bitchy preorders can be with this line.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of