If you have ever wanted to strike down Ultron sentinels with Iron Man’s repulsor blasts, blaze into battle on Captain America’s Harley Davidson or try your luck at wielding Thor’s Mjolnir, you can now do it all.
A new theme based attraction at the High Street Phoenix mall in Lower Parel, which was unveiled on Wednesday, offers a look at unseen Avengers memorabilia and interactive games for hardcore Avengers fans.
The Avengers franchise, launched in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, has grown phenomenally over the years. Adding heroes like Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Thor, Black Panther and Captain Marvel to the repertoire, it came to be known as the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
It also featured the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D), a covert agency, headed by warrior spy Nicholas Fury, that manages all things superhero in the Marvel universe. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , a TV series which was a spin-off from the movies, is still running strong six seasons later.
The attraction, built on the lines of S.H.I.E.L.D, is named Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. (Scientific Training And Tactical Intelligence Operative Network) and begins with a ‘briefing’ by Maria Hill, Fury’s dedicated second in command. Visitors are addressed as ‘recruits’ by ‘agents’ who take them on a tour of the attraction, which includes original costumes of all the Avengers with detailed infographics about the characters’ histories. Also on display are the weapons they have wielded in the MCU movies.
The exhibition was conceptualised by Victory Hill Exhibitions (VHE), a Las Vegas-based company, along with BookMyShow, which collaborated with them to bring the exhibition to India.
“The idea was to connect Marvel with their fans. We worked in conjunction with Marvel studios to bring an immersive experience to the fan base and have been working on this for the last four years,” Michael Mattox, chief operations officer and chief technical officer of VHE said.
Kunal Khambati, head of live events at BookMyShow, said, “We saw the phenomenal sale of tickets when Avengers: Endgame released and realised the kind of audience MCU has in India. The movie sold eight-and-a-half million tickets on BookMyShow alone.”
The exhibit also gives significance to the MCU villains, including Thanos and the Dark Elves, with the Mad Titan himself looking down at visitors, grinning evilly from his massive throne. Interactive games include a simulation of Iron Man’s armour and a final battle with Ultron, after which Maria Hill officially welcomes the ‘recruits’ to S.T.A.T.I.O.N.
Mr. Mattox admitted the time timing of the exhibition — close on the heels of Endgame — was deliberate and added that more attractions would soon be included.
Spiderman, however, was conspicuous in his absence. The teenager, trying hard to carve a place for himself in a world full of legends, stole many a heart right from his entry in Captain America: Civil War, and only grew in popularity with Spiderman: Homecoming , Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame .
“If you think about it, Spiderman was never really inducted into the Avengers. He was offered a position by Stark but he turned it down. The exhibition focuses on the core Avengers,” Mr. Mattox said.
