IMG_7885

On Thursday night, I attended the opening party for The Avenger’s S.T.A.T.I.O.N. an ambitious and impressive for display at Discovery Times Square which takes you right into SHIELD and the Avengers HQ with all kinds of interactive displays. Visitors are given an ID card and then led to a debriefing room and then various displays devoted to Captain America, The Hulk, Iron Man and Thor, with all kinds of computer screens and places where you can test your grip against Captain America, see Iron Man’s armor and even, as the above photo shows, re-enact the scene from every superhero movie ever made where the hero peers into a microscope or computer display, accompanied by that urgent “zoom zoom zoom” string music.

The NY Times has one of many similar previews, explaining that the attraction uses state of the art NASA displays, and teams Marvel with NASA and the National Academy of Sciences.

“We’ve been able to work with some of the greatest writers in the world, as well as the best scientists,” said Nicholas Cooper, the creative director at Victory Hill. “Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science.”

Marvel supported the project by providing paraphernalia from the 2012 film “The Avengers,” Mr. Cooper said, including artifacts from battle in New York, like Captain America’s shield; the scepter wielded by Loki, the mischievous god who led the invasion; and a Tesseract, a powerful device that opens portals to other worlds. The station also includes a Chitauri captured in the battle and placed in a hermetically sealed chamber.

Stan Lee was also available to give the exhibit his blessing.

The opening event was well attended, and the displays of costumes and movie props was quite impressive. Sadly, most of the interactive stuff was not yet up and running, and although it was supposed to open the next day, the presence of workmen jumping into exhibits the minute we passed by gave the impression that this would be an all-nighter.

Apparently even this wasn’t enough to get the very complicated displays on line, as the website currently states:

ATTENTION PATRONS:
Due to advanced technical difficulties, The Avengers Exhibition is temporarily out of commission. Please check this page for updates.

Which is really a shame — this is a fantastic show, and once it is running properly should be a big draw that really pulls you in to the world of the Avengers and Shield. Those who were at the preview were given a ticket for a future showing—as well as a delicious cupcake—which is enough to make up for the disappointment.

Some more photos:

IMG_7824

As you enter you were given a briefing on Avengers history, aka The Avengers film.

IMG_7825

Maria Hill’s costume.

IMG_7830

I’m not sure what this logo represented but it was cool.

IMG_7831

An example of the kind of areas you would encounter.

 

IMG_7832

The Captain America display included those trading cards from the movie.

IMG_7915

Thor’s outfit. Minus Thor. =(

IMG_7919

And the high tech Tony Stark area.

IMG_7922

Although the exhibit wasn’t up to speed the gift shop was going full throttle! All kinds of t-shirts and gewgaws. And I know what you are asking: did they sell comics? The answer is yes.

IMG_7923

 

And a few more.

IMG_7924

And another shelf of Avengers graphic novels.

IMG_7926

And a Kirby-inspired chain wallet.

IMG_7927

 

I also got to check out, briefly, the amazing Art of the Brick display featuring Lego statues by artist Nathan Sawaya. Really some mind-boggling stuff there.

 

4 COMMENTS

  1. The eagle logo with ‘SSR’ is for the Strategic Scientific Reserve, the precursor to SHIELD shown in Captain America. That logo appears on gold pins worn by members of the SSR in the movie, like Peggy Carter and Col. Phillips, and appears on Steve’s t-shirt when he wakes up in the modern day. Shame they couldn’t find room to explain that in the exhibit, you would think they would, seeings how it relates to SHIELD as a whole.

  2. “All I wanna know … WHEN can we purchase the “vintage” Captain America trading cards??”

    March of last year. I’m afraid they’ve been out of stock for some time.

Comments are closed.