This morning during The Walt Disney Company's annual stockholders' meeting it was officially announced that the next big addition to Disneyland Resort, Avengers Campus, would open at Disney California Adventure on July 18. However, that's not the only piece of news that dropped today about the land. In fact, Disney Parks has revealed quite a bit about what we'll get when we enter the land this July, and all of it is incredibly exciting.
From brand new attractions, to new food and new merch, there's a lot that Disneyland fans and Marvel fans are going to be excited about. Here's all the new stuff we know about Avengers Campus.
Tom Holland Will Be Disneyland's Spider-Man
The first Disney theme park to get a Marvel themed attraction was Disney California Adventure's Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout, and it brought the Marvel Cinematic Universe to life by including all the MCU actors in the attraction, in sequences that were actually directed by James Gunn. When Avengers Campus was announced, the obvious question was how more of the MCU would be part of the new land, and one of the bigger question marks surrounded Spider-Man.
While Disney still owns the rights to put Spider-Man in a theme park attraction, in California at least, with the rights to Spider-Man on film being a question mark for several months, one had to wonder if Tom Holland would reprise his role at Disneyland. If he was only going to be in Sony movies going forward, Disney might have less interest in using him. The good news is that it's now a non-issue as Disney and Sony have worked out their issues and Tom Holland will bring Peter Parker and Spider-Man to life at Avengers Campus.
A Brand New Iron Man And Other New Characters
Whether you're a kid, or just feel like one when you're at Disneyland, one of the highlights of any visit is getting a photo with your favorite Disney character. Several Marvel characters have been available for pictures at Disney California Adventure in the past, including Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Black Panther, but with the opening of Avengers Campus we're going to be getting several characters in the park for the first time, including, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and even more exciting, a never before seen version of Iron Man.
The Mark 80 Iron Man is not a suit that we ever actually see in the MCU, and so when it debuts at Disneyland Resort, it will be the first, and one assumes, at least for the moment, only, place to see this particular version of the character. It's one of the few character costumes that Disneyland is still keeping under wraps, which makes it feel that much more exciting. We'll also see the introduction of Okoye for the first time in a Disney theme park who will be on hand to train young recruits in what sounds like the Marvel equivalent to the Jedi Training Academy.
Taskmaster
Of course, along with all these new heroes, we'll need a few good villains for them to battle, and it appears that role will be handled by Taskmaster when Avengers campus opens. He will, of course, be the newest addition to the MCU when the Black Widow movie debuts a couple months before Avengers Campus opens, and he'll be making his way to Disneyland afterward it seems.
Recently, a casting call went out for live performers who can handle stunts to play a variety of roles including Spider-Man, Captain America, and Black Panther. There was also a need for an unnamed villain character, and now that villain has been named. Considering Taskmaster's main skill is the ability to mimic his opponents, it opens up some great opportunities for the live stunt show which is set to take place not on a stage, but on top of buildings all over Avengers Campus.
The Amazing Food, Including Schwarma
There are days I visit Disneyland and I want to ride as many attractions as i can as quickly as possible, and then there are days I want to take my sweet time, and just eat everything in sight. A look at what's coming to The Pym Test Kitchen isn't helping. It seems that Pym Particles are being used to enhance different foods, including the image above of what was clearly supposed to be a slider, until the chicken patty got hit by an Ant-Man growth disk. And of course, since DCA is the park where beverages of the adult variety are available, there're also a collection of exciting cocktails, including Marvel favorite Pingo Doce.
But the best food option might be Schwarma Palace. The joke from the first Avengers movie, which led to a last minute post-credit scene in the film, is now going to be a real place at Avengers Campus. Apparently, the Avengers liked Schwarma so much that they invited the owners of their favorite new eatery to open a second location on their new campus.
Build Your Own Spider-Bot'
If you don't come home with a bunch of new stuff that says you visited Avengers Campus, were you ever really there? All of the usual stuff, like hats and t-shirts will be available, but with the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge we saw the first of what you'd have to call "premium souvenirs" and Avengers Campus will continue this trend with guests able to purchase and customize their own Spider-Bot.
Spider-Bots will be the main focus of the Spider-Man attraction at Avengers Campus and if you decide you can't live without them, you don't have to. In what appears to be a situation similar to Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge's Droid Depot, guests will be able to build their own Spider-Bot, adding in special abilities from other Avengers like Iron man or Black Panther.
The Sanctum
We know more than a little about the upcoming Spider-Man attraction, but the other attraction that will open on day one of Avengers Campus, Doctor Strange's Sanctum has been, perhaps fittingly, shrouded in a bit more mystery. Today we got a few more details, that the attraction will see guests exploring the ruins of ancient sanctum, and will discover magical artifacts along the way. Doctor Strange will also be on hand to train guests in the mystic arts.
While everything is still a bit vague, the Sanctum sounds like it will be mostly a walk through attraction that will include some interactive elements, as well as a cast member playing the part of Doctor Strange. Based on this description, it looks like the Sanctum might share a lot of basic concepts with another upcoming attraction Moana: Journey of Water at Epcot. The two might be similar attractions, with a few different elements changed around to meet the appropriate theming of each. That's not a bad thing. This way both coasts get a chance to experience this sort of attraction, which will be new to both parks.
Four months isn't all that long to wait, and so Avengers Campus will be here before we know it. Now that we have a better idea what to expect, however, it's going to make the waiting that much harder.
Avengers Campus opens at Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort July 18.
Images courtesy DisneylandNews/Disney
