McFarlane Toys Blight - Batman Beyond Future's End (Build-a-fig)

 

This is another figure that I would not have picked up if not for completing the Jokerbot, but at least it's an aesthetically pleasing one! Blight is the villain name picked up by Derek Powers, the corrupt CEO of Powers tech who later also acquires Wayne Enterprises to merge into Wayne Powers. He is exposed to one of his own extremely dangerous chemicals in an accident, and decided it would be a brilliant idea to then try to cure himself with unchecked levels of radiation. Scientists in DC are really off the wall! It's always "lets use this jackhammer to take out a chipped tooth or something with these guys!". They are highly overboard in their approach. 

Blight, with his entire body being a radioactive dump, has himself sealed in a suit to control his radiation bursts. He can blast out radioactive energy, and his body alone has enough radiation to melt most physical attacks on his person. 

The figure comes with the wing/claws for the joker bot, a glowing grasping hand, and a regular one to swap out as well as the card/stand. I will say (and I need to remind myself of this next time I buy a figure) that McFarlane nearly always releases a single version of a figure with different parts. In this case, the Meltdown version of Blight that isn't a build-a-fig comes with two energy effects to put on his fists, which is a much better deal if you don't care about the build-a-fig. 

Mcfarlane Toys Shriek - Batman Beyond Future's End Build a fig

The Future's End line, except for Batman Beyond and Batgirl Beyond, is something I would never have purchased otherwise. That said, I enjoyed the animated series and dig the character design. Mostly though, I bought just enough to buy parts for the Jokerbot I figure what does it hurt to buy two more?! Capitalism wins again. 

I never knew about Shriek, maybe I missed the episode? Anyway, Walter Shreeve, a sound engineer drove his company into the ground, lucky for him Derek Powers acquired his company. He built a sound suit capable of demolition using sound waves, but Powers had other ideas. He commands him to kill Bruce Wayne, who is luckily saved by Batman. 

The look of the figure is pretty sweet. Whether you know or like this character, he seems to sub in easily for robot minion cannon fodder. I like how they handled the energy effect and the lights. Other than that, doing just a few colours with textured suit pieces is definitely McFarlane's wheelhouse. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Bat Joker - Batman Beyond Future's End (Build-a-fig)

 Batman Beyond is a great show, and it showcases some evolutions of the characters from the original Bruce Timm series, as well as a darker future. A prevalent villain (created by Batman and Cyborg, unintentionally) in the show is Brother Eye, an all-seeing artificial intelligence. Brother Eye sees human beings as a poison and seeks total control over humanity. To that end, Brother Eye has assimilated many heroes or forced them into hiding. It can meld its technology into organic beings to force them to its will. 

Brother Eye created Bat-Joker aka Jokerbot aka Jokerborg as an assassin to eliminate Terry McGinnis, the new Batman in the show. Bat-Joker has a dual personality set and head; the cunning and tactical analysis of Batman, and the viciousness of Joker combined with the order of the Eye. 

The figure is a really neat build a figure. The claws that look wing-ish at the back are more poseable than any backpiece I've ever seen, especially at this price point. The figure is tall and imposing, and the dual faces you can switch are pretty neat. There are no accessories in particular if you don't count the wing/claws which are meant to be part, but that doesn't take away from it being a really cool build-a-fig. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batwoman - Batman Beyond: Futur'es End Build-a-Fig

 

The daughter of Dick Grayson, Mayor of Bludhaven, is Elainna Grayson. Through involvement with Matt McGuiness, Terry McGuinness (Batman), Bruce Wayne and her father, she became aware

and involved in various crimefighting plots. Though she promised her father she wouldn't become involved in the hero's life, she eventually took up the Batsuit when Terry McGuiness had his identity stolen by False Face. She's had some combat training in the armed forces, and is also a bit of demolition expert! She demonstrates this in her fight with Blight where she levels a building on him! 

I like the style of the suit's shoulder pads, belt and eyepieces. The wings have the exact same problem as the Terry McGuiness Batman figure. The figure has a bit more range even than the Batman figure in the build-a-fig wave, and the diaphragm joint has an improved back bend. Nice!

Overall a really nice figure, the alternate figure has the unmasked head and jetfire for the boots, which is very tempting! One criticism I have is the same I have for many female figures, the FEET. They are very human barefoot shaped at the bottom as well as being small which makes them hard to balance and pose. DAMMIT. I need toy companies to listen here, stop doing this. In fact, all figures except big, animals, and bare-footed figures, make the bottoms of the feet flat. I don't care canonically what it is supposed to be, make it FLAT. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batman - Batman Beyond: Future's end Build-a-figure

 

Bruce Timm's Batman: The Animated Series is probably one of the most beloved animated Batman shows of all time. I certainly loved it as a kid, even though at the time I wasn't actually super into Batman (TMNT and Xmen was more my thing at the time). The show was followed up by New Adventures and then eventually Batman Beyond, a futuristic sci-fi cyberpunk setting 20 years later. That means 2019. Oh dear, if only they knew what we know now! 

Terry McGuiness is the new Batman under the tutelage of a very old Bruce Wayne. The themes of the show are much darker than the first two shows despite being developed by the same people. I quite liked the show, and am in general fond of when shows take characters ahead in time to tell different stories of how they've grown and changed. The new Batman of the future has a suit that conforms to his body, has thrusters and gliding wings for flight, and is generally immune to bullets, lasers, electrical shocks etc. Pretty supped up! It isn't hard to make a good figure out of this iteration of Batman, and for the most part, McFarlane nails it.