LEGO and DC Comics: A Crisis of Identity

It might surprise you, but I'm more of a DC guy than I am a Marvel guy.

Sure, I enjoyed what few Marvel Cinematic Universe films I saw (Iron Man, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Doctor Strange) and I adore the in-progress Spider-Verse trilogy (even though I feel like Across the Spider-Verse could've been 15 minutes shorter and saved its big twist for the next movie), but there's something about DC that just speaks to me more. Where Marvel is grounded and realistic, DC at its best relishes in idealism and optimism. It shows the best we can be and says "you could do that."

(Seriously, Marvel, enough with the quippy geniuses; it only worked with Iron Man and Peter Parker)

Admittedly, DC is very hit or miss, but when they hit, they hit HARD. There is a reason why people cite the DC Animated Universe's shows not only as their favorite iterations of these characters, but also some of their favorite TV shows period. There's a reason why people love the Christopher Reeves Superman films (both of them... we don't talk about III and IV). There's a reason why, even among the clutter of the DC Extended Universe, people cheered and cried watching Wonder Woman (2017). And that's because these characters resonate with people when they're done right.

Naturally, DC seeks to make their characters available through many forms of merchandise. Many toy companies have held the licensing rights to the Justice League, the Lantern Corps, the Legion of Doom, and Batman's rogues- Kenner, Mattel, and currently Spin Master and McFarlane Toys . However, the subject of this article is that Danish building brick system of 91 years.

LEGO.

After three years in the late 2000s making only Batman sets, 2012 marked the beginning of a range of sets focused on the entire DC canon (minus the parts that would be at odds with LEGO's standards). The floodgates were open- we could finally have Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern (every one of them) in minifigure form. However, after 11 years, it seems like we're back to square one: nothing but Batman.

And in this article, I ask why.

Why is it that LEGO has forsaken the larger DC Universe for sets only about the Caped Crusader?

Why haven't we received sets based on recent DC movies?

And what should DC and LEGO do if they wish to reinvigorate the DC Super Heroes theme?

LEGO BATMAN BEGINS: 2006-2008

The original LEGO Batman "theme" (as LEGO calls their product ranges) began in 2006 and ended in 2008. These early sets are somewhat archaic by modern standards, but they have their own unique charm. Despite releasing before and during the hype for The Dark Knight, these were based on both Batman: The Animated Series and the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher films of the 1990s.

It's a strange amalgam of aesthetics. Batman's suit seemed to routinely change between blue/gray, black/gray and all black depending on the year, the villains were a mix of their movie and BTAS designs, and the vehicles and buildings reflected Burton and Schumacher's grim, gothic depiction of Gotham City and Batman's vehicles but had wacky, toyetic vehicles for the villains. However, just because it was weird doesn't mean it didn't work. Batman's limited color palette puts him at odds not only with Robin, but also his rogues gallery- something that's been part of the franchise since the beginning.

The closest LEGO got to tying in with the movies was in 2008, where they put Batman in a mostly gray version of Christian Bale's Batsuit and incorporate The Dark Knight's Tumbler vehicle into that year's big ticket set. We'll call this a "stealth tie-in"... and it's not the last time LEGO would do something like this to avoid controversy. 2008 also marked the year where LEGO added Batman to the ranks of Traveler's Tales's LEGO video games. LEGO Batman: The Videogame encapsulated the theme in its entirety, focusing on Batman and Robin's quest to stop the schemes of the Riddler, the Penguin, and the Joker.

The original LEGO Batman game, like the original run of sets, is quite an odd duck compared to what came after it. It's unusually dark for a LEGO game (leaning more into Tim Burton's movies' tone), it has a post-game focused on the villains' preparation for their plans that the Dynamic Duo foil in the main campaign, several characters exhibit traits they wouldn't have in later games (you've heard of "Batman can breathe in space", but I doubt you've heard of "Two-Face is immune to radioactive material"), and it incorporates various vehicles from the City theme for the sake of bolstering Gotham's police force. It's still goofy fun, mind you, but it stands out for those aspects that didn't carry over into future games.

After 2008, the original LEGO Batman theme came to an end for reasons I can only speculate on. Perhaps LEGO felt like The Dark Knight was too dark for them to work with; perhaps they simply thought they'd done everything they needed to (ignoring the fact that the game introduced new characters LEGO still hasn't made into physical minifigures like Mad Hatter or Hush). Regardless of the reason, 2009 seemed to be the end of LEGO's time with the World's Greatest Detective...

until 2012.

THE BRICK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN... WITH HIS SUPER FRIENDS: 2012-2016

2012 marked the beginning of LEGO's Super Heroes theme, one that was split between both DC and Marvel. Like with the Batman sets, there was precedent for LEGO working with Marvel. In the early 2000s, LEGO released sets based on the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man films. The first movie got sets released under the Studios theme (which was all about moviemaking); the second one got dedicated sets to call its own (including some under the ill-fated "4 Juniors" range).

However, LEGO Batman did not return alone. Amidst a first wave of sets that worked to remake the original 2006 sets (Catwoman on a motorcycle, the Batwing pursuing the Joker's helicopter, the Batmobile pursuing Two-Face after he robbed a bank, a villain breaking into the Batcave) as well as incorporate two ill-fated buildable figures of Batman and the Joker were two sets that included heroes from the larger DC pantheon. One included Superman and Wonder Woman in their battle against Lex Luthor's Kryptonite-powered mech; the other was a buildable figure of Hal Jordan as Green Lantern (which I'm going to assume sold horribly thanks to the failure of 2011's Green Lantern).

With those two sets, LEGO DC Super Heroes went beyond Gotham and expanded into the full DC Universe... well, as much of it that they could tap into without going into kid-unfriendly territory. I was there when the theme launched and when the DC Nation programming block launched on Cartoon Network, airing new episodes of Young Justice (only good for one season; the rest is increasingly edgy dreck) and Green Lantern: The Animated Series (only lasted one season but incredibly good for what it was), and in all honesty, it was quite exciting. While Marvel was a few months away from achieving world domination with The Avengers, DC was reaching out to kids and helping them get introduced to their characters at a level they'd understand.

Unlike the original LEGO Batman game releasing at the tail end of the line, LEGO and Traveler's Tales thought it wise to release a game right at the start of this new theme. Much like the new additions of Superman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the Justice League, LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes brought something new to LEGO's licensed games. For the first time, the characters could speak! (fluent English, anyway)

The game told the story of Lex Luthor (Clancy Brown, reprising his role from the DCAU) and the Joker (Christopher Corey Smith) teaming up to cripple Batman's tech with a Kryptonite-powered ray gun that breaks them down into their component bricks. Begrudgingly, Batman (Troy Baker) accepts the help of Superman (Travis Willingham) in dealing with the devilish duo and their gaggle of goons. It played much like the first game, save for the additions of characters who could fly and use their other superpowers and an open, free-to-explore rendition of Gotham City full of missions to tackle outside of the main city. From this game onward, many LEGO video games would incorporate the additions of voice actors and open-world exploration.

Overall, 2012 was a familiar reintroduction to Batman in LEGO form and welcome introduction for Superman and Wonder Woman. It was simultaneously a burst of nostalgia and a taste of the new material that was to come. And with DC's plans for the future in mind, LEGO's executives and designers must've been quite excited.

2013 was split between three Batman-adjacent sets and three sets for Zack Snyder's confused Christ allegory Man of Steel. The Batman sets were a mix of purely Batman content: a new version of criminal penitentiary Arkham Asylum, a set directly based on The Dark Knight Rises and its flying vehicle simply known as "The Bat" (with some blue elements a la LEGO's early TIE Fighters to make it presumably more appealing for the kiddies), and a set that featured a white-clad "Arctic Batman" seeking to rescue a frozen Aquaman from a "New 52"-inspired Mr. Freeze. It's one of the few times LEGO engaged in the trend of making environment-specific outfits for the Dark Knight like other toy companies.

Man of Steel, on the other hand, got very dull-looking sets, a product of Snyder's muted color palette he chose for the film. Then again, a lot of the merchandise that film got was brighter and more colorful than it was. The sets were accurate, yes, but they were on the edge of violating LEGO's anti-military policies and had a muddy, dull color palette only broken up by a yellow car in the smallest set. Snyder's grim and gritty aesthetic and LEGO's desire to make fun toys just could not work together when it came to MoS.

2014 was a year dominated almost entirely by Batman content- fitting, given that it was the Caped Crusader's 75th anniversary. We got our first Batgirl, Flash, Man-Bat, and Damian Wayne-as-Robin minifigures, we got a Batmobile inspired by the short-lived Beware the Batman series (killed by Cartoon Network for being too dark), and we got LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, an interstellar adventure about the Justice League and the Legion of Doom being forced into an unlikely alliance against the megalomaniacal cyborg Brainiac. Oh, and a sarcastic, irreverent, and egotistical Batman appeared in The LEGO Movie.

TLM also included Superman and Green Lantern (who are voiced by directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller's 21 Jump Street stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) as well as Wonder Woman (in her cinematic debut, surprisingly). However, Batman steals the show in every scene he's in, acting as a romantic foil to main protagonist Emmet and saying immensely quotable lines ("First try!" "You are so disappointing on so many levels.") This scene-stealing quality resulted in Warner Bros confirming that a Batman-centric spin-off of the film was on the way... which we'll talk about later.

Regarding Beyond Gotham, I feel like it's the biggest (but not the best) of the three games. Its story is entertaining and makes the most of the emotional aspects of the Lantern Corps (in both serious and silly ways), it streamlines the gameplay by making the various suits Batman and Robin can wear accessible at any time rather than forcing you to stop everything and wear only one suit for the entire level, and I appreciate how the game pays homage to the 60s Batman show (putting Adam West in every level as someone to rescue, making the iconic "POW! WHAM!" effects available in combat, and even having a level that's a note-for-note love letter to the source material).

However, I feel like the game is too big for its own good. The various worlds you can explore feel simultaneously too small and too big- the Lantern homeworlds are tiny but have way, way too much content to do. The amount of collectibles and playable characters feels ridiculous compared to past LEGO games (this critique could also apply to other post-LEGO Batman 2 LEGO games), and the driving mechanics feel a bit stiff. It's a mixed bag, but it's a fun mixed bag and a decent tribute to Batman's history.

Beyond Gotham also inspired much of the material released in early 2015, which finally committed to the "DC Super Heroes" name and did a wave of sets themed around the Justice League and their rogues gallery. Hal Jordan (in minifigure form), Hawkman, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Supergirl, and Martian Manhunter joined the League; Gorilla Grodd, Captain Cold, Black Manta, Darkseid, Sinestro and Brainiac joined the ever-increasing band of rogues. Not only that, but vehicles lifted straight from Beyond Gotham (Brainiac's UFO, the Invisible Jet, the Javelin jet) appeared in plastic form.

The remainder of 2015 birthed two Batman-centered sets- one pitting Batman and Robin against Deathstroke (that's Slade to you 2003 Teen Titans fans); the other involving Batman storming an amusement park hijacked by the Joker to rescue Robin and fellow Teen Titans Starfire and Beast Boy. This "Jokerland" set stands out for many reasons. It's got LEGO's first attempt at recreating the Tim Burton movies' Batmobile in a semi-accurate form, it's the one time LEGO attempted to tie-in with Teen Titans GO! (the scourge of Cartoon Network's schedules) with an actual set (not counting the few LEGO Dimensions packs featuring Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire), and it's the biggest set Batman's rogues ever got prior to The LEGO Batman Movie's Joker-ified Wayne Manor.

However, Jokerland and much of the 2015-2016 sets were plagued with the infamous "Super Jumper" piece. This piece, like those cheap plastic frogs that leapt after you pushed down on their rumps, would allow you to make a minifigure jump. Unfortunately, the piece damaged the heels of minifigures connected to it, prompting its swift erasure and replacement with the far less damaging "Power Blast" piece in 2017.

2016 was the year that I consider to be DC Super Heroes's last great one. The year began with a wave of surprisingly fun Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice tie-in sets. Given that Batman is admittedly far more toyetic than Superman, the increase in quality between Man of Steel's sets and this film's sets is understandable. We got this film's Batmobile and Batwing, some LexCorp goons and vehicles, and a cheap set featuring Batman and Superman's big fight from the film... albeit somewhat better than the movie since it's somewhat divorced from the absurd scenario the film proposed to make the Dark Knight fight the Man of Steel and the resolution to said fight.

Outside of the BvS tie-in sets, the year was quite eclectic. For both their DC and Marvel ranges, LEGO introduced the "Mighty Micros", which pitted cutesy versions of heroes and villains against each other and gave them each a vehicle to call their own. These things weren't half bad. They were cheap enough to amass lots of them, their included minifigures were different from those in the larger "normal" sets (simplified colors and more expressive, toony visages), and the vehicles were quite clever (a 2017 Superman vs Bizarro set gave the latter Superman's vehicle but backwards- fitting for the character).

A collector-oriented Batcave inspired by the 1966 series was also released in 2016, with all the necessary touches to make it appropriately bat-tastic. While this was an impressive recreation of the TV series' hideout for the Caped Crusader and the Boy Wonder, I kind of resent it for starting LEGO's over-reliance with older Batman media (mainly this and the Tim Burton movies) when it came to making sets. The nostalgia for the '66 show was fine in Beyond Gotham and this set, but it gets annoying when LEGO keeps nudging collectors, saying "'member Adam West and Burt Ward?" or "'member Michael Keaton?".

Two sets based on the comics brought Ra's al Ghul, Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne (Bruce and Talia's son), Killer Moth and Blue Beetle into LEGO form and brought Scarecrow back. However, I'd say the most interesting sets of the year were two sets featuring Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, and Katana. Like the 2008 Tumbler set, these sets were stealth tie-ins for a movie, in their case, 2016's Suicide Squad (the listed characters are members of the Squad in that film)

Given the obvious issues with promoting SS directly, LEGO must've chosen to make Batman-centric sets with the comic versions of the Squad as a workaround. It was a smart decision, allowing for LEGO to add more baddies to their rogues gallery and refresh Harley by putting her in her "DC Rebirth" red and blue outfit. However, this was the last time LEGO really did anything like this for the DC Super Heroes theme, so perhaps there was some controversy about the inclusion of the Squad's membership in any form... which is a shame, because I'd love to see LEGO versions of Peacemaker, Bloodsport, King Shark, and Ratcatcher 2.

Overall, the first four years of LEGO DC Super Heroes were quite nice. What started as just a series of remakes of the original 2006 Batman sets expanded into both a celebration of the DC pantheon of heroes and villains and an introduction for folks too young to read the comics. 2015-2016, despite the Super Jumper's design flaws, were when the theme was at its best.

MOVIE MANIA: 2017

2017 was a year dominated by three movies- The LEGO Batman Movie, Wonder Woman, and the theatrical cut of Justice League. And aside from a trio of Mighty Micros, those movies were all LEGO made sets for that year. While it's obvious which one had the greatest investment from LEGO themselves, the two DC Extended Universe movies' sets were no slouch either.

Since it got the majority of sets this year, let's talk about The LEGO Batman Movie first. Out of the four LEGO movies made during LEGO's partnership with Warner Bros and Warner Animation Group, this is the best one. It not only works as a great follow-up to The LEGO Movie, but it's easily one of the best Batman films. It just gets Batman as a character in ways that Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder failed to, understanding that it's okay to let him be more than just an angsty edgelord and that it's also okay to let him have a supporting cast that's more than just Alfred and occasionally Commissioner Gordon. It's got heart, sincerity, and more jokes a minute than most animated films released around the same time.

But this article isn't about the movie, it's about the sets made for it.

Aesthetically, TLBM is an amalgam of every piece of Batman media released up to that point, and the sets reflect that look. Villains popular and obscure have designs borrowing details from all of their incarnations (examples: Bane has his The Dark Knight Rises voice and trenchcoat on top of his traditional wrestler gear, Two-Face is a fanciful what-if version of Billy Dee Williams' depiction of Harvey Dent from the 1989 movie had he reprised the role in Batman Forever), Batman's vehicles similarly range from heavy redesigns of the familiar to faithful translations of the comedically obscure, various Batsuits meant to parody the nonsensical environment-specific ones seen in non-LEGO toylines appear in the Batcave, and the villains get original vehicles themed to their respective gimmicks. Put simply, TLBM and the sets based on it are an everything pizza with emphasis on everything.

With TLBM dominating 80% of the sets in 2017, that left Wonder Woman and the theatrical cut of Justice League with very little to work with. Wonder Woman was admittedly rather tricky for LEGO to work with given the World War I setting. How could they make sets for it without violating their stance against making military toys?

To get around their anti-war toy worldview, LEGO only made one set, pitting Wonder Woman and a biplane-piloting Steve Trevor's battle against the god of war Ares, who is represented as a brick-built version of a giant minifigure (a similar build had been done for a Captain America: Civil War set the previous year). For what it was, it was quite nice in terms of play value and build quality, even if it was inaccurate to the film (Steve is dead by the time Diana fights Ares and Ares isn't nearly as well-armored as he is here).

All that's left is Joss Whedon's cut of Justice League's sets. With how troubled Justice League's production was, I'm surprised any merch made it to shelves at all. But LEGO still released three sets to shelves, all of them somewhat reflective of Whedon's cut. These are all quite mixed bags of sets. The smallest set is a barebones Atlantean structure for Aquaman to defend, the medium-sized set depicts Batman's delightfully absurd Knightcrawler vehicle, and the largest set is representative of the final battle, complete with big gray nothing bad guy Steppenwolf, a ramshackle recreation of the "Flying Fox" aircraft carrier, and a more heavily armed version of the Batman v Superman Batmobile released one year prior.

Overall, 2017 was quite the loaded year, although one that (rightly) leaned heavily towards The LEGO Batman Movie than the two DCEU movies. However, this is now retroactively the last big year for LEGO DC sets. From here on out, we enter a period that I've named after the infamous story where Bane breaks Batman's back- the "Knightfall" era of LEGO DC Super Heroes.

KNIGHTFALL: 2018-present

Admittedly, 2018 wasn't a terrible year for LEGO's DC offerings, but as the year went on, it became more and more Batmancentric. The year began with the last batch of LEGO Batman Movie sets, which focused on rounding out the remainder of the rogues gallery and also the members of the Justice League represented in the film. The second collectible minifigure series was a notable highlight, what with its inclusion of LEGO versions of Marlon Brando's Jor-El and Terrence Stamp's General Zod from the Richard Donner Superman films.

Another batch of Mighty Micros released, but this would unfortunately be the last wave for both the DC and Marvel ranges. Tellingly, two-thirds of the 2018 DC Mighty Micros are Batman-themed, with only one outlier featuring Supergirl's battle against Brainiac for the shrunken city of Kandor. It wasn't bad (this was the first time the LEGO Batman Movie Joker hair was used outside of sets based on the movies), but it set a concerning precedent for the remainder of the year.

Early 2018 saw what I now consider to be the last burst of LEGO Justice League content, featuring Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Firestorm, the Flash and Cyborg's battle against Lex Luthor and the Legion of Doom (featuring the first minifigure versions of Cheetah, Reverse Flash, Killer Frost, and Lobo) to prevent Lex from supercharging a giant robot featured in this wave's biggest set with batteries scattered across the three sets. This wave was delightfully comic booky in terms of aesthetics, down to including new "effect" parts that allowed builders to create dazzling displays with characters using their powers or to play out scenes with Firestorm using those parts.

Unfortunately, it was all downhill from here.

This isn't to disparage the sets themselves, they were still (mostly) well-designed. Rather, I'm critiquing the lack of variety that began to plague LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes as a range. Late 2018 was the start of this new era with two sets focused on Batman and an obscure member of the extended Bat-family (Ace the Bat-Hound in the smaller set; Batwoman in the larger set) battling against equally obscure antagonists (members of the Court of Owls and the cyborg OMAC). I'll give these sets credit for at least tackling weird parts of the Batman canon that The LEGO Batman Movie didn't touch.

The only non-Batman offering of the late 2018 sets was a single set based on Aquaman, featuring minifig versions of Jason Momoa's Aquaman, a terrible person's Mera, and Yahya Abdul Mateen II's Black Manta. I haven't seen Aquaman, so I can't say whether or not Black Manta's submarine included in its lone set is movie-accurate or not. It looks pretty cool, though.

Speaking of accurate, LEGO DC Super-Villains (a follow-up to the LEGO Batman trilogy) released this year. Bizarrely, while the game featured characters released in minifigure form from the January batches of both 2018 and 2019, some of them bore little resemblance to their real-world equivalents. However, the game was otherwise quite nice.

It featured a gargantuan character roster of both heroes and villains, it refined the gameplay to include improvements from games released between Beyond Gotham and itself, it had a delightfully in-depth story about the Legion of Doom being forced to play heroes after the Justice League are warped away and replaced by their evil mirror-universe counterparts known as the Crime Syndicate, and it made the character customizer (a staple in LEGO video games for years) integral to the game's narrative by letting your custom character effectively become the main character. LEGO DC Super Villains, from what I've heard aboutt it, sounds surprisingly novel. Might have to give this one a shot and see if it's worth the hype.

2019 is when I'd say LEGO's unhealthy obsession with Batman truly began. We got retreads of old vehicles and villains and the Justice League were reduced to barely a footnote (to the point where Shazam, in a loose tie-in for the movie Shazam, was awkwardly slotted into a set that had nothing to do with him). This was also the year when LEGO started to rely on nostalgia to sell DC sets, with two (technically three if we count a gift with purchase set) versions of the Tim Burton Batmobile all released in the same year.

2020 was an utter mess for the LEGO DC range. Wonder Woman 1984 got only one set, with nontraditional packaging (with stylized art at the front instead of the actual set) and a very beige and bland build that resulted in it not selling for a year. Everything else was either generic Batman stuff or a 1989 Batwing that existed only to tickle the nostalgia bones of collectors.

2021 is when the nostalgia for older Batman content hit its peak. Not only did we get the 1966 TV series's Batmobile, but we got the Batcowl from that series, a more traditional Batman cowl, and two versions of the Tumbler from Christopher Nolan's films. Outside of that, we got two very kiddie rereleases of minifigures that were already available in sets from the last two years.

2022 and 2023 have honestly just been sad for LEGO DC content. Admittedly, I do like that The Batman (the one starring Robert Pattinson as a millennial Batman and The LEGO Batman Movie's Catwoman actress Zoe Kravitz as its Catwoman) got some sets because they were different enough from the last three years, but it's upsetting that they were the only DC sets we got in 2022.

2023's arguably been worse, but for reasons that I assume were out of LEGO's control. Thanks to The Flash star Ezra Miller making a fool out of himself repeatedly, LEGO wisely decided to rebrand the sets they were going to make for the film as... more Tim Burton 1989 Batman content featuring only Batman and variants of the Joker. Whoop-de-frikkin-do. (At least there's a reason for it; Michael Keaton Batman is probably the best part of The Flash aside from Sasha Calle's Supergirl who deserved to debut in a better film)

It's depressing looking at what LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes has become. But why did it get this way? Why did we go from a decent amount of variety with heroes and villains from all over the DC pantheon to "whoops all Batman"?

WHY LEGO DC IS WHAT IT IS NOW AND HOW TO IMPROVE IT

The ultimate problem facing LEGO DC Super Heroes is the conflict between LEGO's need to produce all-ages content and DC's struggle with producing all-ages content as well as consistently good content. The last few years have been full of DC films and shows either aimed at a primarily adult audience (2019's Harley Quinn animated series, 2020's Birds of Prey, 2021's The Suicide Squad, and 2022's The Batman) or are just mediocre or bad (2019's Shazam, 2020's Wonder Woman 1984, 2022's Black Adam, 2023's Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash and Blue Beetle). Only one of those got more than one LEGO set, and of course it was The Batman.

Put simply, DC has been a hot mess theatrically and on TV (that's not even getting into the comics, but that's another story) over the last few years. In LEGO's mind, it's probably for the best that they only do Batman stuff. The Caped Crusader is a proven seller with all ages, and with diminishing returns from each DCEU film (as well as real-world controversies), I get the feeling LEGO just doesn't see it worth doing sets for movies that are bound to flop. Also, in cases like Harley Quinn, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad, they couldn't really do so without tarnishing their image as an all-ages company.

That being said, there's no way LEGO can keep DC as a theme going the way they are. Kids and collectors alike are going to get tired of being given only Batman- heck, I am. But when you look at how Marvel is being handled by LEGO, it's like night and day. Even when the MCU is in a slump and the current comics are only good for wiping your bum, they're still producing quality sets for Marvel because the brand still sells merch (unless it's some D-listers like the Eternals or Shang-Chi).

There should be Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman mechs like LEGO Marvel Super Heroes has for Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales. There should be loose tie-ins to the movies and shows they can't do sets for because of their tone (ex: a set with Batman and the Flash battling against Clayface and Kite Man to tie in with Harley Quinn, a set with Harley and the Huntress battling against Renee Montoya and Black Canary for Birds of Prey, and Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and Martian Manhunter battling a giant brick-built version of Starro, King Shark, Ratcatcher 2, and Peacemaker for The Suicide Squad). And there should be more than just Batman and his extended group of allies and enemies.

Only the best is good enough, LEGO. What you're currently putting out for DC isn't enough.

So here's what I'd suggest to salvage the LEGO DC Super Heroes theme.

First off, we need to reintegrate the Justice League into the theme. Start by making some sets teaming Batman and/or his allies up with members of the League if you want to get kids who only know him familiar with others. Give the League a Hall of Justice to call their own (surprised that hasn't happened yet); you could do it like the recent Harry Potter Hogwarts sets have and split it up across several smaller sets featuring a League member and a villain. Once kids are used to seeing Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash in sets again, start giving them standalone sets without Batman to support them.

Second, we need to widen the amount of nostalgic media that gets LEGO sets dedicated to it. While the 1966 Batman TV series, the Tim Burton Batman movies and Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy are all worth making sets for, I believe that LEGO's missing out big time on making sets on other DC media. Think about it- we could get sets directly based on Christopher Donner's Superman films, the Lynda Carter Wonder Woman show, the entire DC Animated Universe (Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, Batman Beyond, The Zeta Project, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited), 2003's The Batman animated series, the original Teen Titans, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and Beware the Batman. The DCAU and Teen Titans in particular are ripe with potential for LEGO to experiment with.

Lastly, we need a fifth LEGO DC game. Keep all the quality of life improvements made from LEGO DC Super-Villains, add in the "crime waves" from LEGO The Incredibles (which I think would be a good way to let you unlock villains), split the story between fifteen "hero" levels and fifteen "villain" levels (just like the original LEGO Batman game), and tell a new story (I'd like to see the Teen Titans and their rogues get some screen time instead of just being DLC or unlockable characters) as the past games have. Admittedly, this would be difficult given all the changes made at Traveler's Tales to make the divisive LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga happen (which suffered from generalizing the character abilities, making the levels comically short, making the 2-player nearly worthless, and having way too many collectibles for its own good), but a man can dream.

CONCLUSION

And there we have it, chaps- both a retrospective on LEGO DC's history and my ideas for how the theme could be saved. Hope you enjoyed it, everyone. God bless!