LEGO designer explains reason for less DC sets in 2022

LEGO designer Mark Stafford has explained exactly what’s happening with LEGO DC in 2022 and why there just aren’t as many sets this year. 

In an interview with Brickset, Mark Stafford of the LEGO Super Heroes design team, covering both Marvel and DC, has revealed the reason behind the few LEGO DC models in 2022.  

For context, there have been four full LEGO Batman sets so far in 2022, and with only a month and a half left at the time of writing, there’s not likely to be many more. 

“At the moment, we are the Super Heroes team and would love to explore Marvel and DC,” explains Stafford. “Personally, I hope we can get to the point of producing as many DC sets as we are Marvel. 

“The reason for the current disparity between them is primarily to do with what children and parents are most familiar with. A few years ago, there were new Batman cartoons being released and DC was everywhere, so we had the opportunity to produce more sets.  

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“Nowadays, DC seems more focused on adults when it comes to things marketed worldwide, which makes it more difficult to develop play sets for a broader audience.” 

Both LEGO Marvel and DC haven’t shied away from adult-focused sets with examples including 76178 Daily Bugle and 76161 1989 Batwing. The LEGO Group’s customer service team gave a similar answer earlier this year, mentioning a lack of relevant content to inspire sets. 

“Definitely not and it never will be as long as we have the licence,” responds Stafford when asked if DC has been abandoned. “I think we can see that DC is in the process of restructuring their film slate, so we have to wait and see what happens.” 

Peter Safran and James Gunn as the new co-CEOs of DC Studios, the newly renamed film division, and there have been multiple reports of upcoming DC films too, so calling this a restructuring of the film slate seems appropriate. 

This response suggests that when DC Studios can put together a more cohesive release schedule, more LEGO DC sets are likely to appear, though nothing has been confirmed for the future of the theme at the time of writing. 

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