[originally posted: 4/12/2017]
Who the flying grape nuts are Magpie, Calendar Man, and Kite Man? And why am I getting sold these B-rate fake knock-off minifigures in my premium Lego set?
It turns out that they are all, indeed, legitimate Batman villians, though DC is really scraping the bottom of the comic book pages to resurrect these obscure characters. Magpie first appeared in print in 1986, Calendar Man in 1958, and Kite Man, the most valid of this round-up imo, in 1960.
Despite my ignorance, the barrage of bad guys, regardless of how unknown, was for good dramatic and fun effect as one premise of the Lego Batman movie was for Batman to understand that he is nothing and no one without the people around him. In this case, without criminals, and hence crime, he was just a man in a costume, so scrounge up every bad guy the Joker did! Really shoving the idea, nay the necessity, of teamwork down kids throats, but just another theme overlay from the first Lego movie.
I’m not sure if DC and Lego purposely extrapolated their cast in both movies to expand their merchandising potential or if DC wanted to reinvigorate lost archenemies. Either way, the beginning heist scene of Lego Batman is an entertaining dialogue to set that scene as the Joker enthusiastically introduces his deviant counterparts responsible for attacking Gotham:
“Riddler, Scarecrow, Bane, Two-Face, Catwoman, Clayface, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, Crazy Quilt, Eraser, Polka Dot Man, Mime, Tarantula, King Tut, Orca, Killer Moth, March Hare, Zodiac Master, Gentleman Ghost, Clock King, Calendar Man, Kite Man, Cat Man, Zebra man, Condiment King–”
Hostage Pilot: Ok, are you making some of those up?
Joker: No, they’re all real. Probably worth a google.
In addition to those worth of Joker’s introduction of ‘Who’s Who’ in that scene, the movie also witnesses the star-studded appearances of Harley Quinn, Killer Croc, Man-Bat, Hugo Strange, Mutant Leader, Kabuki Twins, Magpie, Calculator, Doctor Phosphorus, Egghead, Captain Boomerang, and Red Hood.
How many of those characters had you known of prior? For fans interested in boning up on their DC trivia and bad guy history, there’s a gallery with basic villain info compiled HERE.