A while ago, some clever clogs online built a bunch of little go-karts themed around the Marvel and DC Comics LEGO Superheroes lines and they were pretty cool. I bring this up because what I’ll be looking at today appears LEGO’s official answer to that in the form of Mighty Micros! The first wave is split 3×3 for both Marvel and DC Comics sets and today we’ll be looking at the Marvel side!

Immediately out of the gate, the Marvel Mighty Micros are showing the potential with some classic hero vs. villain battles! Captain America vs. Red Skull! Spidey versus Goblin! Hulk vs. Ultron? Okay, that’s probably more to do with recently having Ultron as a major villain but whatever, just look at these guys! If you couldn’t guess already, LEGO has gone balls-to-wall silly with this line and I loooooove it. Without further ado, let’s jump into these sets because it appears that the world is once again on the brink… of Wacky Races.
First up, and arguably the biggest rivalry amongst these sets, is Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin! In an interesting little twist on the formula, each micro-kart (I don’t know what LEGO are calling these so that’s what I’m going with) has their own instruction leaflet while all the parts are mixed together. Were these at one point going to be sold separately?

Another interesting thing about these sets are that the minifigures are mini-er than usual! Spidey and Gobby have the tiny legs! And simplistic, almost pre-school simple, design elements. Not that I’m complaining, I think they’re really cute! And they have fun little camera and Pumpkin Bomb accessories!

Once assembled, the micro-karts resemble uncomplicated versions of the Spider-Copter and Goblin Glider. Well, in the Spider-Copter’s case but Green Goblin’s ride seems a bit girther than it should. Plus they both have regular wheels, which is hilarious as they’re both aerial vehicles.

Next up is Hulk vs. Ultron!

Hulk looks ridiculously adorable, despite trying his best to look menacing while Ultron seems to have gone back to his comic roots with the classic open-mouthed scream face; bubbling with red energy and sweet metallic silver all over. Their accessories don’t make a lick of sense to me though…

When it comes to the micro-karts, I’m split right down the middle between loving them and hating them. Ultron’s spider-crab-car-thing is kiiiinda like stuff we’ve seen him do before but it’s not interesting while Hulk’s car has hulk-hands. That’s dumb as rocks and I adore it. It’s a literal punch-buggy!

Finally we come to the Sentinel of Liberty and his arch-nemesis Nazi; Captain America vs. Red Skull!

Again, the minifigures are extremely simplistic in style but are oddly charming. Cap has this manic, pupil-less expression and a huge star on his chest while Red Skull doesn’t look so much menacing as perplexed. I do love the boss-eyed HYDRA insignia on Skull’s back (Hail DERPDRA) and their accessories are unchanged from other appearances, being Cap’s shield and Skull having a clear block to represent the Tessaract.

Red Skull’s micro-kart is a simplified version of the HYDRA tank he had in a previous set with Captain America. Speaking of, Cap’s little tank is the most Wacky Races thing I’ve seen so far and it just makes me smile. I really dig it!

All in all, the LEGO Marvel Mighty Micros are an absolute blast. For £8.99 a pop, you get two little vehicles made from less than 100 pieces. They’re cheap, quick and immensely fun builds that I hope will be eaten up by superhero fans both young and old. We’re not quite done with the Mighty Micros just yet as I’ll be back in a few days time with DC Comics’ offerings so I’ll see you guys next time for another Mint in Box!

I’m going to skip the usual foreplay because if you’re reading this, then you already know who The Avengers are and what this movie means, not only in terms of comics and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe but also what this movie means in terms of box office. This movie will make bank and that’s because you will go watch it.

Of course you will, it’s the god damn AVENGERS. So where do I even begin with my review of this 141 minute goliath? How best to express my experience of this cinematic colossus? Simple.

This was probably the most fun I’ve had at a movie in my 27 years of living on this Earth. That isn’t hyperbole, that’s how I feel right now. I’m still not done comprehending what I just watched but it is the culmination of 7 years and 11 movies worth of build-up and it lives up to every bit of hype you might imagine for that.

I’m going to avoid MAJOR spoilers for my American friends, since we in the UK had the good fortune to receive this movie a full week before them so here goes:

You know all those cool snow battle scenes in the trailers? The ones you’d assume are from the climax or, at the very least, the second act. Nope, that’s your first ten minutes. Yeah, let that sink in. It came as a real surprise to me and my friend when right off the bat, we get to see what the Avengers do best and it’s amazing to see. This is a team that hasn’t spent the last three years sitting on their hands, they’ve been busy going on raids against HYDRA and the team’s banter and cohesion as a unit is just glorious to behold.

On the acting front, all the actors are on their toppest of top forms. I could not think of a single line or performance that let me down or held up to (and sometimes surpassed) my expectations. Some stuff bears mentioning specifically though:

James Spader takes on the momentous task of taking Ultron and making him… Real. And I was very surprised by his portrayal. I’ve never had a definitive voice or speech mannerism for Ultron but Spader makes the character glow with charm, wit, intelligence and, most of all, menace. He does a fantastic job of portraying what is, essentially, a gestalt entity but also give it a unique voice all its own.

The Maximoff twins are pretty likeable, even as the antagonists for the early part of the movie. The elephant in the room is obviously whether or not this Quicksilver is better than X-Men: Days of Future Past’s version. Short answer; no. Long answer; Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays a far more mature and damaged Pietro and is not predisposed towards shenanigans but he can be a joker, balancing both attitudes pretty well but he’s not the impish trickster that Evan Peters portrayed and actually comes off better for it in some scenes. Scarlet Witch is perfectly fine, Elizabeth Olsen puts in a pitch-perfect portrayal of the hex-wielding Avenger. She really earns her stripes.

And finally, Paul Bettany as The Vision. Our JARVIS turned Synthezoid Avenger makes for a nice counterpoint to Spader’s Ultron, which is obviously the intention but it’s so much better than I thought. I also adore the way Vision proves his intentions to the team. It’s a fantastic little moment.

There’s also a TON of other performances that are great but SPOILERS so I’ll just leave them for you to see for yourself…

The Hulk vs. Hulkbuster scene is just as awe-inspiring as you’d expect and even finds time to throw in some witty one-liners (from Stark, natch). It’s a knockout brawl through a city and I had a smile through the entire thing.

There’s plenty of surprises to be seen, and some fantastic foreshadowing to future movies. I caught references to at least three, not counting the mid-credits scene. I’ve had it confirmed that there’s no post-credits so there’s nothing to stop you leaving after the mid-credits scene.

If there’s anything negative thing to say, there’s one thing that NEEDED to happen in this movie and Whedon knew that, only to purposely leave you blue-balled; but it’s masterfully done so I can’t stay mad because it made me laugh.

Overall, my opinion doesn’t matter because you’re going to go see the movie. Of course you are, it’s The Avengers but more-so and I can guarantee that you will leave the theatre thoroughly satisfied.

Too damn long.

Let’s watch this first proper taste of Avengers 2: Evil Android Boogaloo

– “It is… ALIVE!”

It’s hard to tell if this is Ultron’s first appearance in the film (everyone seems pretty shocked about it) or if it’s a return from being smashed up. Either way, it’s in bad shape.

By the way, did you see Rhodey in the background? Nice to see him hanging out with the big boys!

– No More Mu… I mean, Ultrons. No More Ultrons

Wanda Maximoff has a sordid history in the Marvel Universe. A lot of writers have been very cruel to her. It seems that her luck hasn’t changed much.

Having said that, this is Whedon. He knows how to write women (I recognise that’s a dumb phrase to say, but lord knows there are too many people out there who can’t write women properly). I’m sure The Scarlet Witch is going to have a great role to play in this story.

– Awwwwwww Yeeeeaaaaaaah

Lets face it. We were all dying to see this. The Hulkbuster suit.

People have been hinting at this thing happening since Iron Man 2. There are going to be a lot of nerdgasms.

– Fashion Tips From Comic Strips

Ok, so I know this is a tiny thing, and I recognise I’m a bit of a loser for spotting it but…

You may have seen an alteration to Hawkeye’s costume. No? His coat is longer and flaps about. Yeah, you see they gave him is old design:

Alright, alright. It’s not exactly the same but still, it’s little touches and references like this that makes this Marvel fanboy happy.

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Overall: While the trailer doesn’t give away an awful lot (still no Vision and who the hell is Andy Serkis?) but it still has lots of little details to digest (Cap’s broken shield and hey, look, it’s Andy Serkis!).

This movie is not a hard sell, we’re all dying to see it. As long as the trailers don’t damage that status, and this one certainly doesn’t, then Marvel are due to break records all over again.