When it comes to Marvel Comics, I’ve always had one favourite, it isn’t Iron Man or Captain America, it’s a favourite that I share with his creator, the legendary Stan Lee. I am of course referring to your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man.
Pieces: 1092
Set Number: 76057
Minifigures: Spider-Man, Scarlet Spider, Spider-Girl, Aunt May, Green Goblin, Kraven The Hunter, Scorpion
RRP: £89.99/$99.99
Being a young superhero fan in the 1990’s was a great thing. While the movie revolution was still a decade away, the print and TV were superb thanks in no small part to the animated adventures of Batman, X-Men, and the aforementioned web-slinger. I loved them all, of course, but the latter got me hooked on the character, the young geeky guy who ends up being the protector of New York, I loved it.
Twenty-plus years on and after two major movie franchises have withered and died, 2016 appears to be Spider-Man’s revival tour, thanks in no small part to his scene-stealing debut into the MCU in Captain America: Civil War. Interest in the character is at its peak once more, with a solo movie and new animated series coming next year, the excitement is intensifying, Spidey is well and truly back on top.
Last week LEGO released their latest wave of sets from the Super Heroes range, and while the Dark Knight has DC Comics covered as per usual, Spider-Man is the star of Marvel’s line-up. As the overarching theme of these latest sets appears to be the villains, it’s no surprise that LEGO chose Spidey. After all, when it comes to bad guys very few other heroes have such a diverse cast of villains to work with. Doc Ock, Kraven, Scorpion, Vulture and the Goblins, Hob and Green, feature across the three new sets so there is plenty for any Spider-Man fan to enjoy.
The largest of these new sets and the one that caught my eye immediately is the Ultimate Bridge Battle, a glorious location piece set on a broken bridge with all manner of bad guys taking on Spidey and his Web Warriors. It’s not a cheap set, but with an incredible cast of seven minifigures and over a thousand pieces, it’s safe to say that my expectations were extremely high before the building even began.
Minifigures
With heroes and villains in equal share (and Aunt May), the minifigure collection in this set will get any Spider-Man fan excited. In addition to the man himself, we get the LEGO set debuts of Scarlet Spider, Spider-Girl, Kraven The Hunter and Scorpion, all brand new to physical LEGO. Finishing off the collection is popular Spidey foe, Green Goblin. As an adult collector myself, WOW is the only word that springs to mind, there is extensive value for LEGO Marvel fans with this set thanks to the exclusivity of so many of the cast.
I won’t delve into too much detail with regards to the titular character, Spider-Man has made a number of appearances in LEGO form over the last few years and the minifigure in this set differs very little from what we’ve seen before. Based on the comic book version of the character, and not his recent MCU movie debut, the figures blue and red suit should be very familiar to LEGO fans, lighter colours with the webbing detail and modest spider emblem.
For those not familiar the Web Warriors are originally a superhero group made up of Spider-Man style characters from across Marvel’s Ultimate multiverse, though the story and members have changed over the years through both the comics and an animated series. Two of the members (plus Spidey) feature in this set, Scarlet Spider, and Spider-Girl.
Depending on which version of the characters origin you go with, Scarlet Spider is either a clone of Peter Parker or one of Doc Ock’s victims of experimentation, either way, he shares the same powers as Spidey, though the outfit would certainly suggest the former. The character wears a red suit with a sleeveless blue hooded top and mask similar to Spidey’s and that is brilliantly captured in this minifigure. While the legs piece is just red with no detail, the torso is almost entirely blue with red arms. The detail on the torso includes the off-center Ultimate-style Spider-Man emblem and a silver belt, again faithful to the characters source material. An additional neck piece has been added to the figure to give him a hood and the head is almost identical to Spider-Mans, though with slightly different shaped eyes and lacking the webbing.
A female clone of Spider-Man, Spider-Girl definitely has her own look while still following a similar design. Again, we get red legs with no detail, though this time the torso features only the spider emblem. This isn’t surprising given that it’s huge and takes up the large majority of the torso front, as well as continuing on to the back, cut only by the addition of the waist curves you find on female minifigures. The head piece is identical to Scarlet Spider’s, though the addition of a hair piece sets the minifigure apart from the rest.
Aunt May’s minifigure is a fairly generic old person – so definitely not based on the “unusually hot aunt” from Civil War. Made up of plain grey legs and a predominantly light blue torso which features a belt and scarf, the minifigure still stands out as impressive. The head piece has two faces printed on it so that depending on whether Aunt May is being attacked or saved, you’re covered for appropriate emotion. Finishing off the look is the grey hair piece with bob, much like the Aunt May fans will be familiar with from both the comics and the animated series’.
The villains are the real highlight of the minifigure collection, featuring three iconic characters from the Spider-Man universe. Thanks primarily to the 90’s cartoon and Willem Dafoe, the Green Goblin is the only one of the three which has made the mainstream, hence why he is the only one to have appeared in several sets prior to this.
Based on the classic comic book version of the character, the Goblin minfigure is superbly detailed in his cartoon-style look. Everything about this figure is unique to the character, the legs piece features his signature purple boots and what can only be described as pants, along with scaly legs. While not incredibly detailed, the torso does exactly what it needs to, with print detailing his vest-like top, again purple, and scales on the arms. The detail also features a purple belt which links well with the addition of an over-the-shoulder bag. The head has two faces printed, one a sinister smile, the other angry and crazed, both include the characters yellow eyes and cheekbone detail. The Goblin’s look is completed by the clip-on hat and ear piece combo.
Up next is an unusual choice and a character that many will likely be unfamiliar with, Scorpion. In addition to being a Spider-Man bad guy, Scorpion has actually battled Captain America and Daredevil in the comics as well. The villain’s main weapon of choice is his mechanical scorpion tail, which he uses to defeat to Spider-Man on more than one occasion. The minifigure version of the character looks amazing, I must say, and while the design is actually fairly simple, it captures the character brilliantly.
Predominantly green and with no detail on the legs, the minifigure has only the basic muscular printing on the torso as well as a few addition horizontal lines as per the characters suit in the comics. The head piece features a full-headed green mask with only the area around the characters eyes and mouth showing any skin tone. The huge tail piece is connected via a two stud clip which attaches around the neck of the minifigure. The look is completed by the horn piece used to simulate the stinger on the end of the tail.
My personal favourite in this set is Kraven The Hunter, a superb character anyway, but his transition to LEGO is outstanding. Every piece that makes up this minifigure has detail, it screams, “Display me for all to see”. The legs piece features a leopard print style design, much like the character in the comics, though the colour seems a little darker than expected, it still looks fantastic to be fair. The torso really stands out, not only as a unique printing but also because of how accurately detailed it is compared to the source material, there is no mistaking this minfig for anyone other than Kraven.
The torso detail includes his zebra-skin belt, his tooth necklace and a modest top covering the muscle definition lines. An additional neck piece is included to create the large fur collar synonymous with the character and it just completes Kraven’s look so well. The head and hair pieces aren’t anything special, both reasonably generic, with the face sporting a goatee beard.
The accessory that comes with this particular character is surprisingly interesting, he could have just been given a standard weapon piece, but instead the LEGO designers have opted to create a vintage-looking rifle from three LEGO pieces, the result is something that looks fantastic with a black barrel, brown handle and grey grip.
Goblin Glider
In addition to the bridge itself, a couple of much smaller builds are included in the set to add a bit of variety to the finished model. First up in the Goblin’s signature glider and it’s a fairly straightforward affair that won’t take more than a few minutes to construct. This, of course, isn’t the first time that the glider has appeared in LEGO form, wherever the Goblin shows up, his choice of transport usually follows and yet this new design is a great improvement on its predecessors.
Featuring a striking green and black colour scheme, two stud shooters and rotating flame on the back, this twenty piece build is a brilliant addition which yet again throws the Green Goblin into the spotlight.
Police ATV
The police ATV seems like an odd choice for the set, if I’m honest. After all, there isn’t any police presence in the set – Maybe Aunt May has gotten herself a new career? Anyway, the build looks like something straight out of a LEGO Dimensions pack, a great micro-build with some impressive detail using minimal pieces. Where this does differ from Dimensions is that this vehicle has more than enough space for a minifigure to use it properly.
The build itself is very different from anything I’ve seen previously as rather than using the standard design approach of using a bar piece as the foundation, this vehicle is constructed in two parts and connected using a rotatable hinge in the middle. I’m not entirely sure what the purpose of this design is, it doesn’t hinder the set and the vehicle still looks great for what it is, it’s just different. The back of the ATV comes with two clips which have the LEGO Police standard walkie talkie and handcuffs in place.
Taxi Cab
The taxi cab left me feeling a little ambivalent, it’s a nice little addition to the set and the New York influence goes great with the overall Spider-Man theme, but the build looks a little cheap in my opinion, a little too blocky. Now, that’s probably me being the spoilt brat who has been used to some of the best that LEGO has had to offer in recent months, but I felt that with everything else going on in this set, it could have been better.
Added to this was my disappointment at the amount of stickers used for such a small build, surely they could have pre-printed “TAXI” on a couple of bricks? As an individual item, it doesn’t hold up well, but with the whole set complete, the taxi cab fit in perfectly.
The Bridge
Now on to the main event, the heart of the set and where several hours of your life are about to disappear into glorious LEGO building. the bridge itself. Unsurprisingly, the huge majority of the 1000-plus pieces that make up the set go into this glorious creation and as you begin with building the support pieces underneath, you will quickly realise how big this thing is going to be, it’s big. Despite what looks like a fairly simple road construction, the build time is surprisingly enjoyable and for the most part lacking in tedium, the excitement builds as the creation begins to take shape.
Working your way through the instructions, the base blocks are the first things to build, both hiding additional play areas and detail. Looking at the finished model from the angle above, the left side is the first to be built, the webbing can be pulled down to reveal a makeshift cage with a camera in a web, very Peter Parker-style – well he has to earn a living somehow. As you work your way through the later sections of construction, you’ll find that a trap door has been added on to the road to drop bad-guys into this area.
The right base block is home to Kraven the Hunter and inside you’ll find his lair complete with a computer screen teeming with Spidey info, a unit mounted with clips for storing his weapons and a crate of loot under his guard, there’s quite an impressive amount of detail under the bridge. A fantastic combination of grey triangular bricks and lime green studs make up a nice extended landscape just around the perimeter of each of this base blocks, very simple stuff that adds a nice touch. While that would be enough to add a bit of character, the look is completed with a number of stickers to simulate posters and graffiti on the walls of the base of the bridge, I’m not one for stickers but these actually look awesome with each one detailing a different hero or villain.
As you begin to build the main body of the bridge, you get a sense of just how big this set piece really is, and while it can be a little repetitive in places, even this part of the construction process is far from boring. As I’ve already mentioned, there is a trap door which is controlled by a level on the far side of the bridge, subtle enough not to ruin the aesthetics of the model but easy enough to find and use. There’s more to the play functions on this bridge than just a trap door, though. One of the sections of the bridge is designed to swivel outwards revealing a spider web ready to catch a crashing taxi cab.
While one end of the bridge has a smooth edge, the other end has been designed to look like it has been blown apart. Using a mixture of bricks sticking out of nowhere and single square studs to show a broken up road, the effect is quite appealing, it does look like someone has come along and ripped your perfect LEGO bridge in two with force. As part of this damaged look, there is a trash can in a precarious position as well as addition fire pieces and stickers to show cracks in the road, all just to add that little extra bit of detail. One of my favourite parts of the set here is the road sign with goes over the bridge platform. While building it I was a little surprised by the choice in design, resting the supports on rotating joints and splitting the sign in two, that was until I took a second look at the promotional images for the set. This sign is design with one thing in mind, the Green Goblin crashing straight through in with his glider and as my two-year-old proved about 20 seconds after I finished the build, it’s extremely effective at delivering that play feature.
The main tower has a couple of surprises of its own as you’ll discover during the build. The parallel supporting walls both have large sections which slide into place perfectly but are never actually connected, these can be knocked out by a simple mechanism controlled by a lever on each side. It’s a great play function if you can imagine one of the Goblins bombs exploding nearby sending bricks hurtling onto poor Spidey below. More impressive, though, looking at this from a collectors point of view is how well the sections fit into place and stay there without ever being connected by studs, it’s a perfect design, to say the least.
The finishing touches begin with the construction of the beam that runs across the top. Up there on high, you’ll find a Green Goblin branded flag, this itself not just a static feature. The beam has a small compartment over the road which contains material webbing. This webbing can be released onto whatever is below, perhaps a vehicle or bad guys, by simply pushing down on the flag. In my opinion, this is one of the less interesting aspects of the set as a whole, but an interactive play bonus for any kids who get their hands on the set – it all adds up.
The final piece of the LEGO model puzzle is the cables that run from the tower down to the far end, they complete the set. Without this final piece of detail, this bridge would not look anywhere near as good as it does and yet this is by far the simplest part of the hours-long build. Seven sections of three LEGO pieces make up the cables and they easily clip together. All of the way down the connection there are exposed studs which allows you to pose minfigures in a running position – Spidey and co are pretty agile and love a good bridge to run around on, if the movies are anything to go by.
The Set Overall
Overall, the Web Warriors Ultimate Bridge Battle is now one of my favourite sets, not just because I’m a big fan of Spider-Man, it ticks all of the boxes. This set has everything, a massive model complete with extra detail, hidden sections and numerous interactive play features, a couple of vehicles to set the scene, a fantastic cast of exclusive miniifigures with both heroes and villains, there is so much to love about this set. Of course, to many a £90 LEGO set isn’t an everyday purchase, but when it comes to that special occasion that does warrant a spend like this, you can’t go wrong here.
As a collector I love it. As a Spider-Man fan, I love it. As a parent with a Spider-Man obsessed son, we both love it.
This set was provided for review purposes. However, all reviews reflect the authors own personal views and are not influenced in any way.
THE GOOD
- Plain and simple, THE BRIDGE IS AMAZING
- Superb minifigure cast
- Hours of fun build time followed by more interactive play functions then you’ll know what to do with
THE BAD
- The taxi cab design seems a little lazy and cheapens the build slightly, it’s the only thing stopping this getting full marks.
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