Where could – or should – LEGO Marvel busts go from here?

LEGO Marvel 76326 Iron Spider-Man Bust and 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust are only the beginning – so what could be coming next?

While speaking to LEGO Fan Media, LEGO Senior Designer Mark Stafford highlighted that the team was 'definitely thinking of future sets' while designing 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust, specifically when it came to the stand.

"We made sure that this stand was appropriate for almost every character we could think a bust could be made for, across all superheroes," said Mark. He was echoed by the set's designer, Petra Persson, who said: "In this case, you don't see human flesh. You need to think about that if there was to be something similar in the future."

"It's not like the helmet line, in this case," concluded Mark. "It's a bust, so is there a way to do a human face? We don't know yet!"

With 76326 Iron Spider-Man Bust not featuring any skin, it seems that the LEGO Group is already cooking up some ideas for future brick-built busts – although it's of course still early days.

Later in an interview with Duck Bricks, Mark confirmed once and for all that more busts are on the way, saying: "It was always in the back of my mind, at least, that this had potential to be more – and it will be."

Of course, there's no confirmation of which characters could be next – and with decades worth of comics, movies, and TV shows, there's certainly a lot of potential fodder out there.

The original Avengers

With Iron Man already ticked off the list with 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust, an obvious avenue to go down would be the original Avengers. Recreating the Hulk as a bust would be a fun opportunity to play with sizes, perhaps doubling up the piece count for a beefy green bust, while Thor's hair would present an interesting challenge.

The only downside to this group would be that Hawkweye and Black Widow would be pretty dull as busts, given that they are fairly typical humans from the shoulders up, without any unique defining features. Captain America has his signature helmet, Thor's eyes can glow with lightning power behind his Norse god hair, and the Hulk has obvious potential – but the final two of the OG squad feel like they would be pretty bland in bust form.

Comic book-accurate favourites

When asked whether comic-accurate designs were ever considered in the same video from Duck Bricks, Mark smiled and said 'there might be'.

"We looked at that," continued Mark. "One of the early sketch models is definitely bright red and yellow, so that it was closer to the comic book. We did consider that but this is the more iconic version of the characters."

With Iron Man being the face of the MCU for years, it makes total sense for the LEGO designers to have chosen to go with his cinematic look. However, other characters are easily more beloved in their comic-accurate get-up. Indeed, the LEGO Group has been leaning into the yellow and blue Wolverine look in various ways, in the minifigure in sets like 76281 X-Men X-Jet and 76257 Wolverine Construction Figure.

Could we see a bust of retro Wolverine? The flared edges of his mask would look impressive scaled up into a bust and would pair well with another display-focused build that's already on shelves, 76250 Wolverine's Adamantium Claws.

Lean into the future

At the other end of the spectrum, LEGO Marvel could choose to lean into the future, using the busts to align with upcoming movies. With several Avengers movies on the cards over the next few years (and plenty more besides), perhaps the follow-up to the brick-built busts will tackle Sam's Captain America, Bucky, the new Black Panther, or any of the other characters who will head up the future of the MCU.

At the end of the day, LEGO Marvel products go hand in hand with promoting the movies. Fans want to be able to recreate their favourite characters that they currently see on screen, as well as past ones, so moving with new releases would keep the fledgling collection relevant.

Of course, we're only speculating about the possible future of LEGO Marvel busts. The LEGO Group could end up doing one, none, or all of these ideas; only time will tell. For now though, both 76326 Iron Spider-Man Bust and 76327 Iron Man MK4 Bust are available to pre-order now for £54.99 / $59.99 / €59.99 apiece, ahead of their launches in August and June respectively.

Thank you for supporting the work that Brick Fanatics does by buying your LEGO sets using our affiliate links!