Marvel’s build-out across Disney’s international parks got two new looks at D23 on Saturday night: fresh concept art for the Spider-Man coaster at Shanghai Disney Resort and for the Avengers tower going up in the Stark Expo area of Tomorrowland at Hong Kong Disneyland.
The reveals came in the same Horizons: A Carousel of Progress segment where Kevin Feige and Imagineer Brent Strong announced Robert Downey Jr.’s return as Iron Man for Avengers Infinity Defense at Disney California Adventure.
The World’s First Spider-Man Land
Shanghai’s new area will be the first land anywhere in the world dedicated exclusively to Spider-Man, built around a new Shanghai division of the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, or W.E.B., the outfit Tony Stark set up to get young people experimenting with new tech.
Avengers Campus regulars know it from Disney California Adventure and Disney Adventure World in Paris.
The story: Peter Parker and his friends have created a new set of Spider-Bots to help assemble their experiments and build the land’s brand-new coaster. Disney’s own write-up asks what could possibly go wrong with all those Spider-Bots around, which is about as clear a hint at the ride’s plot as you’ll get.
The new art shows the coaster train tearing past a giant multi-legged Spider-Bot as Spidey swings overhead, and Disney says the final piece of the coaster’s track has now been installed.
Imagineers are also working with local artists on more than 20 murals celebrating science, Spidey and the Avengers, with a sneak preview on display at the Imagineering Pavilion inside the Anaheim Convention Center for D23 attendees.
Avengers Tower Rising In Hong Kong
Over in Hong Kong, the Avengers pavilion now under construction will house Avengers Research Testing Labs, which Disney is calling a tower experience unlike any story it has told before.
The setup has Stark Industries and other brilliant minds, Peter Parker included, working on powerful new tech inside the labs. New tech draws evil forces, and that’s where the adventure takes off.
Using more than 120 feet of storytelling tech, riders travel across realms including Wakanda and Asgard alongside Spider-Man and other heroes.
The concept art shows a glass ride vehicle climbing the tower’s face as heroes soar around a swirling portal.
A new Quinjet landing platform nearby will double as a character meet spot. Disney says construction is well underway and the tower will make a statement on the Tomorrowland skyline once it goes vertical.
Marvel Everywhere
Back in Anaheim, Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab are both set for 2028 with Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, Brie Larson and Iman Vellani reprising their roles. Disney’s D23 write-up lists Shanghai as “coming soon” and attaches no date to the Hong Kong tower.
The Marvel news out of the expo also includes the X-Men roster, a new Avengers: Doomsday Special Look and the Marvel’s Wolverine trailer, and you can watch the full Marvel Studios panel here.
