The Walt Disney company has been availing themselves of their two new properties, working with talented imagineers who are longtime fans of both Star Wars and Marvel to generate incredible content. Between movies and film, the one element missing from both Lucasfilm and Marvel has been the addition of parks in this new partnership, and while there are Marvels at other parks Disney has led the way in themepark development for almost as long as Marvel has been around, the two are a match made in heaven and nowhere is that more apparent then in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland Expo, featuring Superhero HQ and the Star Wars Launchbay, an incredible journey into both films and properties.
Superhero HQ is located on top of the Launchbay and features two meet and greet areas, the popular Thor’s “Treasures of Asgard” exhibit, where Doctor Jane Foster has opened a portal to the bifrost which allows guests to visit Thor in the company of SHIELD agents, and the brand new “vault” replacing Captain America’s museum. While some have been critical of Disney replacing Captain America (he’s not gone, simply on a long term mission.) The vault gives people an opportunity to meet with a number of different characters. Rumor has it that as civil war approaches, SHIELD and the Avengers might team up to bring you more of Captain America’s super friends.
The Vault features spiderman, which marks a noted departure from traditional Disney fare. Traditionally Spiderman was only available at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure where he has an attraction as well as a meet and greet. Could the presence of a vault signify Disney looking to develop properties based on Marvel characters? All signs point to yes, and they continue to deliver quality.
Disney appears to be looking forward to a long term relationship with Marvel. Their store featured a television that offered promotional material from Agents of Shield and Agent Carter as well as the films:
Their “store” featured a number of new unique items, a wall of comics, and a D-tech store where you could print your own official Marvel phonecases.
It also featured a wall of comic books, according to sources, there will eventually (hopefully!) be plans to offer a comic book store inside the park! This speculation has several cast members very VERY excited!
The biggest offering however is the D-tech 3D printing station where you can print your own phone cases featuring marvel characters. Personalized phonecases were 45 dollars, non personalized phone cases were 35. “There are a lot of characters available.” said a castmember, “These are very durable phone cases for the iphone 4 thru six and the galaxy 5 thru 6. The case itself will fall apart before the image itself begins to wear down.”
It’s almost as if it’s a prophecy being spoken. Super Hero HQ features a wall of classic comic book panels from the beginnings of Marvel and rather then focus solely on Captain America and the traditional heroes, they put considerable focus on bit players including Hawkeye and Spider woman and focus on unique and intriguing panels. There’s a whole panel of Natasha versus J.Jonah Jameson, and a panel that references 616 Hawkeye’s blindness versus his brother trick shot. That along with props from the film makes Tomorrowland a must visit for any Marvel fan. Visit a Galaxy far, far away and fly back home to chill with your favorite heroes knowing there’s a LOT in store!
It’s very clear that Marvel, and by an extension Disney is paying attention to people who want a wider range of heroes to believe in from the content they’re delivering in their films. With the attention being paid to super hero HQ and the amazing offerings they’ve delivered for Star Wars: Seasons of the Force, wouldn’t it be amazing to see what they could do with Marvel’s properties? What would you like to see? Sound off in the comments below!