Minifigure Mini-Reviews #1 – General Zod & Jor-El

Series 2 of the Lego Batman Movie Minifigures have started hitting Sydney stores, and I was lucky enough to grab a few of them the other evening. Now, I’ve been pretty slack in reviewing the last couple of series of Minifigures, so I’m going to try something new with these Minifigure Mini-reviews. They’re in no small part (ha!) inspired by OAFE’s Mini-Mates reviews.   

Truthfully, my impressions of this series of Minifigures are a little mixed. These two figures are great…but I didn’t love The Lego Batman Movie, so I don’t feel the need to own every single version of Batman that appeared on-screen. With that said, the series includes a number of important, unusual and/or strange characters who might not otherwise see release in Lego format. So I plan to pick up maybe…half of the series in total? Time will tell. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the two Kryptonians featured in this series – General Zod and Jor-El.

General Zod

Clearly inspired by pre-Priscilla Queen of the Desert Terence Stamp’s take on the character, Zod is rather a plain minifigure at face value. He’s wearing his black pyjama garb, and his face is printed in a fairly neutral – if slightly irritated – expression. But this is appropriate; he’s had many different looks in the comics, but this is the one that the general public probably associates with him most closely.

He didn’t really need any accessories (Kryptonite maybe? Or a clear panel to serve as a Phantom Zone?). But he does come with a newspaper, with the headline “Kneel Before Zod”. There’s another part to the joke, which can be seen in the photo.

He’s also got two face options to pick from – spin his head around and you’ll see an angry face with heat vision eyes. Perfect for battling Superman!

Given that we’ve only had the Michael Shannon version of Zod in Minifigure form previously, this is a welcome addition to the collection. He’s a key villain in the DC Universe, and his addition to the line is long overdue.

Jor-El

Live as one of them, Kal-El

Discover where you strength and your power are needed

Always hold in your heart the pride of your special heritage

They can be a great people, Kal-El, they wish to be

They only lack the light to show the way

For this reason above all, their capacity for good,

I have sent them you, my only son.

Superman: The Movie is when Supes’ Jesus-like aspects began to become really heavily emphasised. And fulfilling the figurative role of "God" in this setting was Marlon Brando’s Jor-El. While this figure isn’t an exact replica of Brando’s look in the film, it’s very clearly inspired by it. He’s got the exact same hairstyle and similar robes, but it now looks a little more comic-y, thanks to the chest armour.

There has been a Jor-El figure previously, but it was based on Russell Crowe’s version of the character from Man of Steel. It wasn’t a regular release figure either, so it will cost you a comparative fortune if you go for it. This is an excellent substitute.