talkingshopheaderWe’re going to break the mold here today. Usually Talking Shop likes to get deep into the comics but not today. Today we’re going to talk about Legos… and comics but mostly Legos.

You see I’ve been knee-deep in the Lego world the past few months. My day job is advertising and I’ve been working on a Lego project, so I’ve spent a lot of time with the little bricks. Playing the video games, watching clips and building all kinds of Lego things. But it wasn’t until I was walking in the store that I realized something. Lego is the ultimate nerd toy.

Now mind you, I never really got into Legos as a kid. We had a box of Legos but they weren’t connected to a franchise. They were just the plain old bricks that required you to use your imagination to create something. That was fun but eventually I moved on to video games and comics and other things and Legos were forgotten.

But now, walking down the Lego aisle at the store I will tell you that Lego has a piece of just about every nerdy franchise. There’s Star Wars, Indiana Jones, DC Comics, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Lord of the Rings and more. I mean they recently announced a Back to the Future Lego set. Think about that, Back to the Future! How awesome is it going to be to own a Doc Brown mini-fig!

 

So awesome! You will be mine.

So awesome! You will be mine.

So I’ve been in this Lego mindset when (here’s where the comics come in) they announced a Marvel Heroes Lego game. I honestly never thought this would happen. The company that creates these games, Travellers Tales, is owned by Warner Bros. Warner Bros is, as any self-respecting nerd knows, the same company that owns DC Comics. So it was no surprise when Lego Batman or Lego Batman 2 was announced but to have a company owned by Warner release a Marvel game? Nah. It’d never happen.

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But it did! How awesome is that? I honestly can’t wait. The Lego games are some of my favorite video games out there and they are only getting better. I played Lego Batman and loved it but Lego Batman 2 just took it to a whole new level. The voice acting was great, the jokes were funny and it was really awesome to finally play a game as Superman.

Seriously. Lego is the most awesome company.

Seriously. Lego is the most awesome company.

But back to Marvel. At this point there isn’t much we know about the game. We know it includes a lot of “Legoized” versions of Marvel characters but the official ones announced are the Avengers plus Wolverine, Spider-Man, Loki and Deadpool. The creators have said that if you have a favorite Marvel character, they’re trying to get them into the game. That could be a lot of characters.

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I think it’s also safe to assume that the general format of the game will be like the others. There will be levels with the main missions and then there will be opportunities to go back through the levels and collect studs, red bricks and other collectables. I sure there will also be ways to collect and add other playable characters.

I’ve read that certain character’s powers will give them a unique play in the game such as Spider-man who can apparently stick to anything. This effect will be like Superman was in Batman Lego 2. He built Lego bricks faster, could fly over a good chunk of the level and showcased several powers, such as heat vision or cold breath.

Maybe my biggest excitement though is for the cut scenes and voice acting. The recent Lord of the Rings game apparently used voice acting and music from the movies. How awesome would it be to have Hugh Jackman do Wolverine and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in the same game! I realize that’s probably a pipe dream but you never know.

Lego Marvel is going to be the game of the year in my books and I can’t wait for it to come out this fall. I hope over the next few months to see more and more announcements of characters or plot surrounding this game. We may not be able to get a full Marvel Universe in any actual movie but this Lego game may be what gives me a taste of all my favorite Marvel characters acting in one place. Thanks Lego and once Marvel is done, let’s get TMNT on the dock as the next one, please?

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Travis Meidell

Travis Meidell

Columnist at ReadComicBooks
Travis Meidell’s introduction to comics was born from sadness. When he was young his excitement for the upcoming blockbuster movie, Batman and Robin, had been building for months. He couldn’t wait. But the day after the movie was released the young Travis sat on the edge of his bed dejected and confused. He knew Batman could be better than this. He’d seen a great Batman before but where could he find more? That afternoon the young nerd ventured into his first comic book shop and fifteen years later he has never left. Well technically he has because he needs food but in his spirit, he is still there flipping through back bins. Today Travis works in advertising and spends his free time reading and writing about comic books and all things nerdy. Besides Batman, the majority of his reading lands on the Marvel side of the fence but there will always be a special place in his heart for the Dark Knight. Travis now lives in Chicago with his wife where he is attempting to turn his one-year-old son into the perfect little geek.
Travis Meidell

@Travismeidell

@robertrgaul I like X-Men better than Avengers as far as comics go but in movies Quicksilver makes a better Avenger. He should be there. - 17 days ago