Following a lightning-fast turnaround from pre-order launch to arrival, the highly anticipated DC Multiverse McFarlane Toys Dark Knight Trilogy Build-A-Wave has landed. This collection covers Christopher Nolan’s iconic cinematic universe, featuring four core individual figures: Batman, Scarecrow, Two-Face, and The Joker.

As a Build-A-Wave set, collecting all four figures grants you the necessary pieces to assemble the massive Tom Hardy-inspired Bane megafigure. While initial excitement for this wave has been sky-high across the community, unboxing these figures reveals a mix of cinematic brilliance alongside some genuinely frustrating quality control flaws.

Here is my comprehensive McFarlane Toys Dark Knight Trilogy review, breaking down the accessories, the individual figures, and the final Bane assembly.

The Accessories and Build-A-Piece Issues

True to the DC Multiverse line, each package includes a standard black display base and a collectible art card featuring movie promotional imagery (though Scarecrow oddly just features a photo of the action figure itself).

The character-specific accessories provide great display options:

• The Joker: Includes a unique stack-of-money base plate featuring a peg to stand him on.
• Batman: Comes loaded with his signature cinematic grapple gun and three distinct golden Batarangs.
• Scarecrow & Two-Face: Feature alternate hand options and character-specific details like Harvey’s coin.

However, the build-a-pieces for Bane highlight immediate quality control concerns. The skin-toned paint application on Bane’s bare arms is surprisingly brittle, with noticeable peeling and paint flaking straight out of the box. Rather than molding the arms in skin-toned plastic, the choice to paint over dark plastic leaves the figure susceptible to immediate aesthetic wear.

Individual Figure Breakdowns

Two-Face

The sculpt work on the scarred side of Harvey Dent’s face is beautifully gruesome, highlighting the raw asset burns with excellent texture work extending across his suit jacket. Sadly, the clean side of the portrait bears very little resemblance to actor Aaron Eckhart, likely due to a likeness licensing hurdle. Articulation is decent, though his hair sculpt prevents his head from tilting far back, and his jacket slightly limits torso movement. Note that due to Warner Bros. strict safety policies, he does not include a firearm accessory, his hands are permanently sculpted holding his lucky coin.

Batman

Visually, the Dark Knight himself is an absolute masterpiece. The intricate armor plating and textured undersuit make the figure look like it stepped directly off a Hollywood set. Unfortunately, structural engineering lets the design down. Upon opening, the structural arm joints on multiple copies proved incredibly fragile, with limbs detaching easily under standard articulation testing. The shoulder pads are fused directly to the arms rather than being floating pieces, putting added stress on the shoulder peg when lifting the arms.

Scarecrow

Capturing his tattered appearance from the final act of Batman Begins, Scarecrow boasts an incredible head sculpt filled with textured decay. The tattered fabric cape and sculpted noose around his neck highlight classic McFarlane attention to detail. The midsection uses a hollow rubber overlay design rather than solid plastic, giving it a somewhat cheap, squishy feel. Due to the elongated sleeve sculpts, swapping his alternate hands is a tight, difficult process.

The Joker

While the face sculpt isn’t a flawless Heath Ledger likeness, the chaotic paint application beautifully mirrors the character’s messy, self-applied makeup from the film. The lower torso utilizes the same hollow rubber construction as Scarecrow, which does allow for a wider, smoother range of waist articulation than typical figures, even if it compromises the weight of the plastic.

The Final Verdict

The McFarlane Toys Dark Knight Trilogy wave delivers some of the best cinematic visual sculpts seen in the DC Multiverse line, but it is held back by fragile joints and peeling paint formulas. For dedicated film fans, the shelf presence of the completed wave makes it highly desirable, but collectors should handle the articulation with extreme care.