Bandai‘s Tamashii Nations collector imprint is known for taking familiar superheroes and Star Wars characters, and giving them a feudal Japan makeover into samurai and ninja. When it comes to Batman, however, no makeover was necessary: the upcoming Ninja Batman anime already did the perfect redesign. All that was left was to render it in three fully articulated dimensions.
And articulated he is: the cape itself is poseable, and he can be staged throwing blades or wielding his sword almost any way you like.
There’s even a bonus head for when you want your Batman not just “regular angry” but “extra shouty mad.” Or maybe he just realized Samurai Superman’s mother is also named Mariko.
Every Batman needs a Joker, and this one is particularly malevolent. He’s the Demon King of the Sixth Heaven, which certainly sounds impressive, even though he probably gave that title to himself. But we wouldn’t say he’s his own biggest fan; more that he wields his own biggest fans.
Joker also comes with an alternate head, again to display a more open mouth. Budding stop-motion animators will enjoy making him talk, perhaps.
Sorry, Jared Leto, but you’re no longer the most flamboyantly dressed Clown Prince of Crime.
While Batman and Joker are accurate to the movie, designer Takayuki Takeya had more of a blank slate to reimagine Deadpool. The merc with a mouth is now the ronin in red, as Deadpool is the latest Marvel hero to join Bandai Tamashii Nation’s “Meisho Manga” line. It’s a more natural fit than most, since Wade Wilson already wields katanas. He’s had to switch out his machine guns for flintlock pistols, however, just to fit the times.
While he lacks Rob Liefeld’s signature endless pouches, those are baggier pants than normal for Deadpool, so he has probably stuffed a lot of secrets down there. Maybe his facial expressions will give it away. Because he has a few of those, thanks to interchangeable eye patches.
While he comes with signature swords, sheaths, and guns, there’s no mention of chimichangas, probably because Mexican food was not commonly known to samurai. We can speculate as to what his favorite food would be instead: tempura, perhaps?
Look for these sword-slinging superheroes to hit retail sometime later this summer, for around $90.
So, Ninja Batman versus Manga Deadpool…Who wins? Let us know how you see that fight going down in comments.
Images: Bluefin/Bandai
Cartoon superheroes rule! Here’s more on that.
- Marvel Rising has a wonderfully diverse lineup.
- The new Ninja Turtles are here.
- Hey, remember the great cartoons of the ’80s?
