Marvel Super Hero Island offers a theme-park window into a pre-MCU world

Avengers Campus opened on June 4 in Disney’s California Journey, one of many parks in Anaheim’s Disneyland Resort. With all of the pomp and circumstance across the new set up, it won’t register that Avengers Campus isn’t the primary Marvel-themed amusement park, or the one one on the market. That title belongs to Marvel Tremendous Hero Island, in Common Orlando’s Islands of Journey in Florida. Established 22 years in the past — nicely earlier than the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off, and redefined how the world sees Marvel characters — it’s a wierd time capsule of a pre-MCU world. Whereas the remainder of the phrase lined up for the new-fangled WEB Slingers Spider-Man journey in Avengers Campus, I revisited The Wonderful Spider-Man journey in Islands of Journey out of morbid curiosity.

Why are there two Marvel-themed lands in fully separate parks, owned by completely completely different firms? Is that previous journey from 1999 any good? Due to my current journey to Common Studios and a normal information of the weirdness that’s Islands of Journey, I’ve these solutions.

Photograph: Petrana Radulovic

Somewhat background for these unfamiliar with the sophisticated world of Marvel theme parks: The explanation a Marvel Tremendous Hero Island exists in Common Studios’ Islands of Journey is as a result of a number of the theme-park points of interest in Islands of Journey and Common Orlando alike are licensed properties from different studios. That’s why these parks function the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Again when Islands of Journey opened in 1999, Marvel Tremendous Hero Island was one of many first themed lands within the park. (Enjoyable element — it was initially alleged to be a DC Land, earlier than Time Warner acquired Six Flags and deliberate its personal DC integration there.)

Islands of Journey is a hodgepodge of various properties, every by itself “island” within the park. There’s a Jurassic Park-themed Island, the Harry Potter one, a Physician Seuss world, a comic-strip land, a King Kong-inspired Cranium Island, and the Misplaced Continent, a vaguely Medieval-Greco-Roman-Arabian themed place that used to have just a few miscellaneous points of interest that didn’t belong wherever else, although nowadays, it solely hosts a stunt present and an interactive fountain. After which there’s Marvel Tremendous Hero Island.

I first visited the park in 2007, and coming again to it in 2021, I wasn’t too shocked to study that not a lot has modified. Due to varied rights points, every thing on Marvel Island comes particularly from comics earlier than 2009, the yr Disney acquired Marvel. The precise contract language may be very particular: Disney can’t use the “Marvel” identify in theme parks within the U.S. or Japan (which explains the identify of Avengers Campus), and can’t have a Marvel-themed simulator journey inside designated authorized distances of Common theme parks (it’s 60 miles for “mini-theme parks” and 300 miles for precise theme parks.) Disneyland is exempt from these guidelines as a result of it’s west of the Mississippi River, which is why Disney squeezed Avengers Campus into the comparatively tiny Disneyland, as a substitute of putting it within the extra sprawling Walt Disney World.

Photograph: Petrana Radulovic

What’s Marvel Tremendous Hero Island about, if not the MCU?

Marvel Tremendous Hero Island clearly emphasizes that it’s representing Marvel comics, not Marvel motion pictures. That really kinda works out. As an alternative of replicating film units from the MCU, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man motion pictures, or Venom, the decor of the Marvel island is filled with large comic-style pictures of characters, and the buildings are stylized with huge, daring shiny colours to emulate that really feel.

It does assist that a few of the most eye-catching artwork on Marvel Island is of characters who haven’t proven up within the MCU but. The primary eatery boasts massive cut-outs of the Incredible 4. You may take pics with an immense picture of Wolverine baring his claws. There’s artwork of Captain America and Iron Man plastered on the perimeters of buildings, however they’re very clearly the comedian guide characters, not film stars. The retro vibe may very well be jarring, however as a result of these particular characters solely make up a small portion of Marvel Tremendous Hero Island, it’s straightforward to look previous them.

Guests who don’t know the weirdly particular Marvel theme park authorized restrictions is likely to be anticipating to see the MCU counterparts within the park. However for essentially the most half, the points of interest — Physician Doom’s Fearfall, The Unimaginable Hulk Coaster, and Storm Drive Accelatron (a spinning teacup journey themed round X-Males’s Storm) — contact on characters who aren’t within the MCU, or don’t have a presence within the Disneyland park but. It additionally does assist that Marvel Island is a hop-skip away from Toon Lagoon, the world of Islands of Journey devoted to comedian strips and old-timey cartoon characters like Popeye and Dudley Do-Proper, so guests can seamlessly transition from one pen-and-ink world into one other. For essentially the most half, Marvel Tremendous Hero Island appears like just a little pocket universe, completely separate from the MCU juggernaut we all know and love at this time.

Aside from the Spider-Man journey.

It’s fairly humorous that each Marvel Tremendous Hero Island and Avengers Campus opened up with Spider-Man rides — The Wonderful Adventures of Spider-Man at Islands of Journey, and WEB Slingers: A Spider-Man Journey at Disneyland. Each function Spider-Man, naturally, however additionally they function a mix of physical-motion units and digital display environments. Spider-Man rights proceed to be the bizarre authorized gray space in the case of Marvel properties. Good man Tom Holland allegedly saved the massive ol’ Sony-Marvel deal again in 2019, however the hero’s movie rights nonetheless belong to Sony.

However in the case of the Wonderful Adventures of Spider-Man journey, not one of the trendy Spider-Man motion pictures even existed. Like the remainder of Marvel Tremendous Hero Island, the journey was designed to evoke the comics, and it visually resembles the 1994 animated sequence greater than it mimics any film that includes Holland, Tobey Maguire, or Andrew Garfield. For the previous 22 years, the coaster has maintained that very same look. It was briefly refurbished in 2012, however that simply concerned updating it to 4K and 3D, whereas including in some Stan Lee cameos. When The Wonderful Adventures of Spider-Man was launched, it was one of the vital cutting-edge rides round, and it acquired high awards at business occasions.

Does it maintain up at this time?

Ready in line for The Wonderful Adventures of Spider-Man takes me across the again of the Each day Bugle workplaces. Within the lore of the journey, the Sinister Syndicate (composed right here of Physician Octopus, Scream, Electro, Hydro-Man, and Hobgoblin) has stolen the Statue of Liberty. An animated model of J. Jonah Jameson, voiced by Chris Edgerly, recruits me and the opposite company to journey in a particular fancy reporter automobile, to be able to snap some footage of Spider-Man (…additionally voiced by Chris Edgerly). The queue circles by the Each day Bugle workplaces. Outdoors, the intense buildings have bricks drawn intermittently, evoking that comedian guide really feel. It isn’t as detailed as a few of the different ready areas within the park (the Hogwarts queue involves thoughts), however little indicators for the Each day Bugle cashier are a pleasant contact.

Inside, the queue circles round a newspaper workplace. Since this takes place in 1999, the Each day Bugle reporters use typewriters and rotary telephones. All the pieces can also be tinged with gray, which I assume is meant to proceed the comedian guide look and evoke newspaper comics, but it surely simply seems just a little washed-out. On televisions scattered by the queue, information reporters give “reside updates” of the Sinister Syndicate’s plans. It’s all performed in that very same previous 1994 Spider-Man animation model, which is fairly charming.

Photograph: Petrana Radulovic

Photograph: Petrana Radulovic

J. Jonah’s intro video explains extra about what awaits us, whereas displaying off the “Scoop” car. We seize some “night-vision goggles” (3D glasses), then load up into the car, which whisks us off right into a Manhattan again alley, portrayed in comic-book model.

The journey is a hybrid of setpieces and video screens, which present animated variations of the Spider-Man characters threatening the Scoop car, then getting yanked away from us by Spider-Man’s webs. For essentially the most half, these cartoon encounters don’t look terribly outdated, particularly since they aren’t meant to look photorealistic. When the movies pan in for close-ups, the graphics look janky. However that doesn’t occur rather a lot, and more often than not when it does, the villains are masked. Components like Scream’s flowing hair may look just a little stiff, however when actual hearth blasts out of the partitions and water splashes on the riders, that’s not likely what you’re taking note of.

The Scoop car seamlessly transitions from units to display, in a method that Common Rides do very nicely. The impact is analogous within the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey journey, however the Spider-Man journey is notable for doing it first, and nonetheless being simply as a lot enjoyable. Regardless of the occasional stilted graphics, it’s nonetheless thrilling, stuffed with abrupt risks and reversals each few seconds. The Scoop car will get hit by Doc Ock’s anti-gravity beam, making the ups and downs all of the extra thrilling.

The fireplace and water — the “4D results” — may very well be gimmicky, however they’re well-integrated into the (admittedly extremely tacky) storyline — and likewise, when a person made from water is taking a swipe at you, it’s okay to be a bit tacky. After all, Spider-Man swoops in to save lots of the day, snatching the Scoop car up along with his net earlier than it plummets to the bottom. It’s corny enjoyable, however that’s precisely what you need out of a quick theme park encounter along with your pleasant neighborhood Spider-Man.

As a result of the story of the journey is all animated, and since it’s so self-contained in Spider-Man lore, with none references to different heroes or villains, it’s straightforward to overlook the MCU model of Spider-Man and his complete interconnected universe. It is a completely different Spider-Man, one who’s by no means met Tony Stark, and hasn’t by chance set unfastened the bots plaguing Avengers Campus. I assumed I is likely to be considering of Tom Holland and even Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire all through the journey, however as a substitute, I used to be swept away into this animated universe.

I went to Marvel Tremendous Hero Island anticipating it to be kinda unhappy, an unchanging pocket of time caught within the early 2000s. To be honest, there are nonetheless a number of these mounted reference factors, just like the cardboard cutout of Captain America battling M.O.D.O.Ok., of all villains. But it surely additionally captures a brightly coloured, off-kilter world that the MCU has but to copy. The Spider-Man journey is the right instance of the superhero world’s pre-movie-franchise vitality, a tribute to the comedian books and animated reveals that used to outline superhero media. By some means, in any case these years, The Wonderful Adventures of Spider-Man nonetheless holds up, even whether it is trapped in a bizarre time limbo. Truly, possibly it holds up as a result of it’s trapped in a bizarre time limbo, simply as a lot of a interval piece of Marvel lore as it’s a enjoyable journey.