Everything old is new again; ipso bat-so, it’s the perfect time to celebrate Michael Keaton’s return to the superhero role that helped kick off an entire film genre. Ahead of Keaton’s blockbuster reprisal in the highly anticipated and much-delayed feature The Flash, which was heavily featured in the trailer released at CinemaCon, LEGO unveiled a downright masterful new mega-set that will bring to block-sized life Bruce Wayne’s Batcave from Tim Burton’s 1992 sequel Batman Returns. And this might just be the sweetest exclusive set yet for the Dark Knight.
The official LEGO DC Batman Batcave Shadow Box is a behemoth of a release, coming in at 3,981 pieces, which includes a total of seven new minifigures and a Batmobile. Check out the front of this set and tell me you wouldn’t love to zoom into this bad boy with the need to look up some dastardly villains’ background info on the Batcomputer.
It looks amazing! I’ve admittedly never cared one way or another about shadow boxes and their aesthetic, but as it often goes with just about anything: get Batman involved, and I’m all in. (I’d even be this excited for the set if it was dedicated solely to Batman & Robin, if mostly to get Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl as a minifig.) And as cool as it would be if this were a static, immobile set, that’s not the case at all.
Beyond its shadow box appearance, the active display model opens up to give customers a key comic book setting full of moveable parts that pay homage to the 1992 sequel that co-starred Danny DeVito as The Penguin, Oswald Cobblepot; Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle, a.k.a. Catwoman; Christopher Walken as Max Shreck; and Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth. Now check out the opened-up version and try to figure out which of the Caped Crusader’s arch enemies you might need to team up with to skim the $399.99 price tag.
The inside features an illuminated Batsuit vault, which can be opened and closed, as can spot to store Bat-tools. Users can also spin Bruce’s chair and change the computer screen using controls on the back of the set. Just in case Bruce doesn't want Alfred to see what he's searching on the 1992-specific Internet.
There are no doubt some Batman fanatics out there who would drop $400 just to have more minifigures from the DC hero’s universe. Seven are included here, including Penguin, Catwoman, Max Shreck, Alfred, Bruce Wayne, and two different versions of Batman. One of the latter is rocking a fabric cape, while the other showcases a rare LEGO Batman all-in-one cape and cowl. Does Catwoman’s whip hurt more or less if it’s made out of rigid plastic? I’m sure she’d be purr-fectly willing to answer that herself.
And for the final piece worthy of extra focus, we have a size-adjusted version of LEGO’s Batman Returns Batmobile, which obviously comes with a flame piece to attach to the back of the car. It also features a movable roof that opens up for Batman to drift into from whatever nearby highrise. (Though only the one with the fabric cape.) Two guns pop out of the vehicle as well.
It may not be as big or technical as the LEGO Batmobile from Robert Pattinson’s The Batman, but it’s the one Michael Keaton’s vigilante drove around in, so it wins by default.
Fans looking to pre-order the Batcave Shadow Box set can do so at its LEGO.com order page, keeping in mind that it's a full 20 inches (51 cm) across, in case you're someone who has an extremely skinny fireplace mantle or something. I mean, it's worth putting a whole new shelf up on the wall just to showcase this set.
While kids can obviously appreciate a set like this, let’s all be aware that this is technically an adult-oriented release, with an 18+ suggested age. So anyone younger than that should be very careful about how they handle the finished product, lest they get thrown into Gotham River atop a giant plastic duck. They probably should be allowed near any of these awesome TV show-inspired LEGO sets, either.
Fittingly enough, as fans wait for both this set and Michael Keaton back in the Batsuit (following the shelving of what was supposed to be his first reprisal in Batgirl), we can also look forward to seeing the actor reunite with director Tim Burton in the recently confirmed Beetlejuice 2, which is set to be released in theaters on September 6, 2024. Will we get LEGO Beetlejuice to mark the occasion? That’ll be a great day-o if we do-o.
