Disneyland Resort’s Avengers Campus Needs More Marvel Characters in Regular Rotation
The California Adventure incarnation of Avengers Campus will change in the coming years, as work commences on the arrival of the long-awaited E-ticket Avengers Infinity Defense attraction. But in the meantime, the land could be made to feel much more exciting and engaging in the here and now by simply leaning further into one of the biggest appeals of Marvel at its core - its huge array of beloved characters.
Beginning March 10, Guardians of the Galaxy - Mission: Breakout! will be closed for refurbishment, leaving the land temporarily featuring only one functioning ride – the far less thrilling Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure - providing even more of a reason to make sure Avengers Campus at least can deliver when it comes to its potential for unique and fun character interactions.
There are days where walking through Avengers can feel particularly exciting and as though you really are in the midst of a world where superheroes are commonplace. I’ve had the experience of seeing Spider-Man stroll up to Ant-Man and the Wasp and begin chatting with his fellow heroes or spotting Gamora and Ant-Man (that guy’s friends with everyone!) up top on the walkways at Avengers Campus, moments before strolling by Iron Man doing his meet and greet down below. While not nearly as interesting visually as a land, Avengers Campus has always been superior to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge when it comes to frequently including appearances by multiple popular characters to engage with guests - but that still has limitations, because only a select few of the same characters are used most of the time.
Last month saw the end of Storytime with Deadpool, a very entertaining and well attended show featuring two of the most popular Marvel characters there are, Deadpool and Wolverine. Yes, the show debuted to coincide with the release of Deadpool & Wolverine in theaters and did get extended and eventually retooled into a holiday-themed version for several weeks, which was great to see, but why take it away when people still want to see it? And even if the show itself is ending, why can you no longer just see Deadpool and Wolverine as walk around characters on a daily basis at Avengers Campus? The movie may not be new anymore, but that doesn’t make the characters any less of a draw for guests.
Almost every new MCU release has gotten the synergistic debut of a new character or two at Avengers Campus since the land opened, but some of these appearances are frustratingly brief and Deadpool and Wolverine were aberrations just for making it a few months. And yes, every MCU project isn’t as beloved as others, and it makes sense that, say, the Eternals wouldn’t be permanent characters (even though their movie is underrated!) but why isn’t the Scarlet Witch a regular presence at Avengers Campus when she’s popular enough to have a bunch of merch at California Adventure? Why has Agatha Harkness almost exclusively been available to interact with only by those with tickets to Oogie Boogie Bash for the few weeks that runs in in the fall, rather than simply popping in for any guest to meet - and possibly receive some Agatha-powered sarcasm? (Disneyland Paris has its own Doctor Strange show featuring Scarlet Witch and Agatha Harkness - but neither that show nor those characters are at the California Adventure location currently).
Sure, a couple of characters like Shang-Chi or Shuri as Black Panther have become more permanent fixtures after being added as their movies opened, and that is appreciated, but the vast majority vanish from the park after too brief a run, giving too few guests a chance to see or meet them - and to see them interact with each other, often in groupings we’ve rarely or never gotten in the MCU, which makes it feel all the more special in person. That’s why it’s so fun to see Gamora and Ant-Man together and why it would be great to see, say, Hawkeye (either Clint or Kate; you’ve got two choices!) hanging out with Ms. Marvel, among other characters who’ve been at Avengers Campus in the past but aren’t there currently.
Nick Fury finally made some appearances at Avengers Campus in the summer of 2023, though it was unfortunately timed to the release of Secret Invasion, one of the worst received MCU projects to date. But it would be easy enough to overhaul the look of the Avengers Campus Nick to be more traditional – dropping the beanie and extra-bushy beard he had to match the character’s Secret Invasion appearance – and simply have a classic Samuel L. Jackson-inspired Fury regularly appearing to interact with both guests and his Avengers buddies. And as amusing as it was that they used a full, helmeted Quantum suit to make him work as a believable in-person character, they can’t just never bring the Hulk back after a brief test run of the character back in 2022, can they? Hulk would smash over such a thing!
There’s been some frustrating cuts in entertainment at Disney Parks across the board and the end of Storytime with Deadpool comes after last summer’s shuttering of the Doctor Strange show at Avengers Campus. Yes, you can still see Guardians of the Galaxy – Awesome Dance Off! and Warriors of Wakanda: The Disciplines of the Dora Milaje, but only on certain days. But you don’t need a full show to excite guests and plenty of Marvel fans would just love to see more of Loki and Thor appearing at the same time, arguing with each other. I haven’t been able to experience it for myself, but have adored the videos of Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel giving an appropriately awkward, fangirl-y casual tour to guests who might walk by at the right time and it’s a shame that’s not the kind of thing that’s happening more frequently. [Edited to clarify: Ms. Marvel does still appear at Avengers Campus, just not as regularly as the likes of Iron Man or Spider-Man]
Avengers Campus also would be well served adding more characters who’ve never been there before and use the lead-up to a film or series to incorporate them, rather than always wait until that new project is out, particularly when it comes to already-established MCU characters. There’s a decent chance we might finally get Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier appearing in Avengers Campus when Thunderbolts opens this summer, sure, but why wait until then? With such a long break between Bucky’s on screen appearances, it could only help the character to feel current and keep him in the public’s eye by having him at Avengers Campus already, where he could be seen with his pals Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers. The same could be said for folks like Daredevil or Yelena Belova, who could well be coming to Avengers Campus for limited time runs in the months to come, but could have already been well established there following their other MCU appearances.
As a lifelong Marvel fan, every time I’m at California Adventure, I make sure to make at least a couple of sweeps through Avengers Campus to find out who’s there that day, and it’s always a pleasure to see these iconic characters in person. But Disneyland Resort should remember they’ve got plenty more heroes they could use than the same core bunch over and over.
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