The new Marvel-themed area at Disney's California Adventure is currently under construction and now we know a lot about what will be in it. Some internal documents apparently reveal that the land will consist of two phases, with the first being done in time for the announced opening in 2020. Phase one will include a Spider-Man attraction and a Doctor Strange show while phase two will apparently include an awesome sounding Avengers roller coaster.
The new Marvel-themed area is currently being built in the part of Disney's California Adventure that was previously occupied by A Bug's Land. That area included a 3D theater where the show It's Tough To Be A Bug was played. That space will next be occupied by an attraction themed to Spider-Man that will apparently give guests web shooters to use of their very own. It sounds like it will be a somewhat interactive experience that will see guests firing webs at a screen, likely with the inclusion of 3D glasses. If you're familiar with Toy Story Midway Mania, this attraction sounds very similar, simply replacing the pop gun of that ride for wrist-mounted web shooters.
The other day one attraction planned is some sort of Doctor Strange show. This will be a round courtyard where the Sorcerer Supreme will be seen. It sounds like this is something more substantial and permanent than a simple meet and greet, so this may be some sort of stage show. It could be something as simple as the Jedi Academy in Tomorrowland, which let kids learn to be Jedi on a regular schedule, or something more involved and be more of a live performance like the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios. That part isn't clear.
While those will be the two main attractions of the new land's first phase, there will, of course, be more to experience. Walt Disney World News Today reports that internal documents state there will be a counter service restaurant in the area, as well as a microbrewery which will be themed to Ant-Man. Why Scott lang likes beer more than anybody else in the MCU is unclear.
For your Marvel merchandise needs there will be one gift shop located near the Spider-Man attraction, as well as another near the major phase two attraction an Avengers roller coaster.
Not much is known about this major Avengers attraction. There will apparently be a full-scale Qunijet sitting in front of it and the show building is apparently massive in size.
This huge scale is likely the reason the attraction won't be ready when the land opens in a couple years. Waiting for it would delay the land a while and Disney Parks likely wants this space to open ASAP. With Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening across the way at Disneyland a year before, Disneyland Resort needs something to help balance out the crowds. There's no reported completion date for the Avengers attraction. It will likely be at least another year after the rest of the land opens before it's ready, though it could be longer.
It's not clear from the report if this is everything that's expected to be in the new land or if this is simply all of the information in the documents that were available. Since the documents are internal this is more than simply rumor. This is what is currently planned to happen, and since construction is currently underway, while details may change, it appears that the rest is what we're going to get.
All of this will be in addition to the Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout attraction which already exists at what will be the far end of the land from the Spider-man attraction, so there will be an E-ticket part of the land available until the Avengers coaster is ready to go.
Still, this doesn't sound like it's a particularly massive new land. A Bug's Land wasn't that big to begin with and if the Marvel land isn't taking up any additional space then it would explain why. However, there is a large amount of undeveloped space behind Mission: Breakout and previous reports of the Marvel Land implied this land will be used. Perhaps the space, or at least some of it, is being held in reserve for potential expansion. Perhaps there's more to phase two than the single attraction or perhaps there's a potential for a phase three.
Certainly, the ability to fire webs like Spider-man will likely be enough to entertain both kids and adults until the Avengers coaster is ready to wow us all.
One wonders how much the rest of the land will borrow from the MCU. The Guardians of the Galaxy attraction uses the actors from the film franchise so it would seem likely the new attractions will as well. We could see, or at least hear, Tom Holland in the new Spider-Man attraction, though we likely won't get much Benedict Cumberbatch if the Doctor Strange show is using a live actor.
This really makes one wonder about the Avengers coaster as, with it not expected until 2021 or so, we have no idea what the Avengers will even look like then. Could we get appearances by Robert Downey Jr. or Chris Evans? Depending on how the ride is done we still could, even if they're not active in the MCU at that point. With the coaster being an indoor one I'd expect a lot of visuals to be part of both the queue and the ride itself showing off various heroes and potentially having them interact with the guests in some limited way.
All in all, this sounds like a great deal of fun. The only major question this leaves is what the new area will actually be called. While we refer to it as Marvel land, it's unlikely it will actually be called that as existing deals Marvel made before being acquired by Disney prevent the use of the Marvel name in most theme park situations. Whatever it's called, I can't wait to see it in 2020.
