LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia 2024 book review

The new LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia surprises with its level of accuracy and a tempting exclusive minifigure, offering a nostalgic tour of LEGO Marvel’s history.

LEGO Character Encylopedia and Visual Dictionary books are becoming increasingly common for Star Wars and Marvel, but that’s by no means a complaint. While for many these titles are primarily a source of exclusive and desirable minifigures, the book is worth a look this time round too. The 2024 LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia mixes nostalgia with some genuinely interesting facts for LEGO Marvel and wider Marvel knowledge as well as a new minifigure.

Release: October 3, 2024 Price: £16.99 / $21.99 / €21.99 Publisher: DK Books Minifigures: 1 Amazon: Order now

More accurate than expected

DK Books’ LEGO books aren’t always the most reliable sources, occasionally mixing up facts and forgetting release dates and other key details. It doesn’t happen too often, but often enough that this book comes as a notable surprise. Double-checking everything in the book, only a couple of the facts were inherently incorrect and even nitpicking the finer details, there’s only a handful of errors.

Of the few inaccuracies, the most noticeable is a claim that every Wanda Maximoff minifigure wears a red leather jacket while a Wanda minifigure wearing no such jacket is pictured to the left. In addition, page 56 incorrectly labels the subject as the first Iron Man minifigure, before acknowledging on page 60 that a convention-exclusive Iron Man minifigure is actually the first for the character. The latter page is correct.

Aside from these couple of misses, a few other facts named in the title aren’t accurate but this is far fewer wrong claims than you would have found in previous LEGO titles from DK Books. It’s quite an improvement from the publisher and demonstrates that the team behind this book has a wealth of LEGO and Marvel knowledge. You’ll probably find yourself learning something, no matter how much you know about LEGO and Marvel.

A nostalgic trek through LEGO Marvel history

Across nearly 200 pages, the LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia encompasses just about every Marvel superhero minifigure that you could imagine. Even Kevin Feige from 76269 Avengers Tower has a brief cameo. Reading through the book and flicking through an extensive collection of Marvel minifigures is fun, but being able to refer to the physical minifigures on your shelves as you read through it adds to the experience immensely.

There are more than 200 LEGO Marvel minifigures and to ensure that almost every character is covered, some pages feature multiple characters, rather than leaving some out. It’s an understandable sacrifice to have everyone included, rather than offering over 200 full pages, but with fewer minifigures covered. While the minifigure is going to be the star of the show, the book is well worth a read from cover to cover.

O Captain, my Captain

The brand new Captain America minifigure is the standout feature of the new LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia, depicting Sam Wilson in the red, white and blue outfit but with inspiration taken from the comics rather than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The level of detail is impressive, especially for LEGO Marvel minifigures with printing on the legs and dual-moulding.

It’s a vast improvement over the other Sam Wilson minifigures inspired by the comics but falls short of 71031 Marvel Studios’ minifigure. To be fair, the Collectible Minifigures seem to have an increased budget and this is a worthy stand-in for anyone who missed out on 71031 Marvel Studios. Add the wings from that minifigure and the look is complete.

The minifigure is the best part of the new LEGO Marvel Character Encyclopedia but the book is a great source of LEGO and Marvel knowledge with only a few inaccuracies to note. Overall, it’s worth picking up at the RRP of £16.99 / $21.99 / €21.99 on October 3, but sales on these titles are common after their initial launch for those who don’t mind waiting a few months.

This book was provided for review by DK Books. You can pre-order your copy from Amazon now.

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Our honest opinion: A surprisingly accurate treasure trove of LEGO Marvel facts with a great exclusive minifigure for anyone who missed out on 71031 Marvel Studios.