With the arrival of DC Super Hero Girls LEGO, alongside increasing numbers of LEGO Female Superheroes minifigures in the regular Marvel and DC Superheroes line, 2017 is the year that female LEGO superheroes finally shatter the plastic brick ceiling.

My inbox saw a flurry of press releases from LEGO this month, and I was struck by just how many new superhero sets had female characters.

As with previous superhero sets, some have one female character amongst the men and others an equal split. But now there are even all female LEGO Superhero sets.

I’ll be reviewing many of them individually, but as this is such a great development I wanted to do a round up of these new sets.

LEGO Superheroes (Marvel and DC)

The Marvel and DC LEGO Superheroes sets have been the main brand for these licensed sets to be released under. While LEGO Superheroes is still characterised as a ‘boy’ brand, they have increasingly included LEGO Female Superheroes in many of these sets.

Wonder Woman, the most iconic of all female superheroes headlines a Mighty Micros set, matched up against Doomsday.

Over in the Marvel camp, we have two more niche but no less welcome additions. Firstly She-Hulk PLUS Red She-Hulk are part of the Hulk vs. Red Hulk set, while the latest incarnation of Ms. Marvel is in the Captain America Jet Pursuit set.

Ms. Marvel, a character who is a Pakistani-American muslim is a great addition to the LEGO minifigure family – especially at this time, alongside Captain America no less. ==== The LEGO Batman Movie For some reason, LEGO Batman has long been a favourite of my daughter’s. She is SO excited about seeing The LEGO Batman movie (as am I). A wave of tie-in sets have also just been released, and many of these feature female characters. Batgirl appears to be a key supporting player, and is in a number of sets – as is her alter ego Barbara Gordon. In the film she is voiced by mixed-race actor Rosario Dawson, and this is reflected in the minifigure who is quite clearly now a woman of colour. As the father of a mixed-race girl, I think this is great. Harley Quinn, another key Bat-character, also appears in sets, as does Catwoman. The latest wave of LEGO mystery bags are also a Batman movie tie-in, and features some great female minifigures – including a pink Batgirl that I can’t help but find very endearing! The LEGO Toys to Life game LEGO Dimensions is also getting in on the action with THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE Story Pack, which allows you to play the video game version of the whole movie. This Story Pack also features a Batgirl minifigure, who will be playable within the game. ==== LEGO DC Super Hero Girls I’ve saved the best LEGO Female Superheroes until last. You’ll notice one common thread among most of the other sets – they are, for the most part, named after the male character. The female superheroes are not the protagonists. Enter DC Super Hero Girls LEGO. The brand was launched last year, with action figures, dolls, accessories, and assorted merchandise. These LEGO sets were launched globally at the start of 2017. DC Super Hero Girls reboots the familiar characters as teenage students, who all attend Super Hero High School. The main trinity of Wonder Woman, Batgirl, and Supergirl are represented, as well as the lesser known Bumble Bee among others. The likes of Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn are also in attendance, but not as villains. The minifigures are in the LEGO Friends style, and while some have been critical of this – I think it’s brilliant. I do have some issues with the LEGO Friends concept, but the actual sets have been increasingly active and intricate, with a wider palette of colours. This takes that a step further. I think it’s really subversive to have these in the LEGO Friends style, offering many girls a way into superhero culture who may not otherwise have considered it something they could be into. It’s great seeing the taller, thinner Friends minifigures now decked out in iconic superhero outfits, with bikes, tanks, and Batplanes to ride around in. Possibly most subversive of all is the cafe set. While it evokes the LEGO Friends line in its setting – it’s actually called ‘Harley Quinn to the Rescue’, as she is saving the sole male in these sets, Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman’s on-off love interest). It’s a refreshing change to have a dude in distress being saved by a female character – and for all kids to see that. ===== We have received some of the LEGO sets featured in this piece free of charge, with the understanding that I will post about them.