LEGO Marvel designer wanted 50 superheroes in 76178 Daily Bugle

LEGO Marvel designer Mark Stafford originally had a list of 50 superheroes he wanted to include in 76178 Daily Bugle, but was forced to cut it down.

The 82cm-high Daily Bugle is an ode to Spider-Man’s legacy, featuring 25 minifigures from throughout the web-slinging superhero’s long (and now multiversal) timelines. With so many adventures in comics, on screen, and in games, there’s plenty of inspiration for which characters should make it into the set – meaning it was hard for Stafford to make a decision.

“For the Bugle, I had a list of what I wanted there in my splash page and it was 50 superheroes long,” Stafford told MiniSuperHeroesToday. “There were so many heroes on that list.”

Although Stafford didn’t reveal which superheroes didn’t make the cut, he explained how the process of deciding which minifigures make into a set the size of 76178 Daily Bugle involves people from the LEGO Group, Marvel Studios, and Disney.

For example, Stafford was keen to include characters from the comic ‘Spider-Man and Friends’, such as the Human Torch. However, his rights were tied up somewhere else. To compensate, Firestar took his place in the set alongside 24 other minifigures that make up the set.

“The Punisher was on that list,” remembers Stafford. “Along with some other characters that didn’t make it through for reasons you would think the Punisher wouldn’t make it through!”

After looking at which character can be made with the parts available to the LEGO Group and taking on board which figures Disney would like to see make it into sets, the various different groups can finally make a decision. Of course, that doesn’t quell the hopes of passionate comic book lovers like Stafford from wanting to do more sets on other themes, like the X-Men.

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