Spider-Man Leaving the MCU: Fret Not, He's in Disneyland's Avengers Campus
Spidey will remain a huge attraction at Disneyland, even if he's not in future Marvel movies.
Since the release of Spider-Man: Far From Home and the reveal of Phase Four, Marvel faithful have endured a meltdown when talks between Sony and Disney broke down over the future of Spider-Man. As of this writing, Spider-Man is no longer part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Luckily, Spider-Man will stick (get it? because he webs?) with the Avengers at the new Avengers Campus theme park at Disneyland.
At D23, the Disney fan convention in Anaheim, California, Disney’s theme park division Disney Parks unveiled Avengers Campus, the Marvel-themed expansion that will open in 2020 at Disneyland Resort.
Said chairman of Disney Parks, Bob Chapek at D23 (via ComicBook.com): “We’re building an immersive super hero-themed land at Disney California Adventure to enable our guests to join the Avengers to save the world.”
Among the big things at Avengers Campus, there is a comprehensive Spider-Man attraction known as the “Worldwide Engineering Brigade,” or “WEB.” The attraction will anchor Avengers Campus alongside Guardians of the Galaxy — Mission: Breakout, the big Guardians of the Galaxy re-skin of Tower of Terror that opened in 2017.
WEB was announced in March 2019, but since the breakup of Spider-Man from the MCU, it’s important to remember Spider-Man isn’t gone from all things Marvel. (And yes, he’ll still have his comic book series, The Amazing Spider-Man in publication.)
The press release for the park contains an in-universe explanation for WEB as a “global initiative” by Tony Stark “to develop advancements in super-powered technology, including new enhancements to Spider-Man’s suit as their debut project. By bringing together the world’s brightest young inventors, the WEB is creating new interfaces that will empower all of us to join the ranks of Earth’s Mightiest.”
At D23 (in photographs shared by io9), Disney revealed an introduction written by “Peter Parker” who says WEB containes contributions from Pym Technologies (Ant-Man) and the Wakandan Design Group (Black Panther). So, expect to see touches of the rest of the Marvel Universe at WEB.
WEB will also have a new, “cutting-edge” Spider-Man attraction that will be “a blend of never-before-seen technology and practical effects” that will allow guests “to have the abilities of a Super Hero.”
Concept art, by Ryan Meinerding, for Disneyland's Spider-Man.
This heavily suggests the attraction will be a shooting ride to mimic Spider-Man’s webbing powers, with hydraulics to give riders the feeling of swinging around like Spider-Man. But for now, this is all speculation; the attraction is expected to be unveiled in full on Sunday of D23, when a Disney Parks panel takes place at Hall D23 at 10:30 a.m. local time.
And yes, there will be merchandise stores and character meet and greets (you can already meet and take photos with Spider-Man at Disneyland). There are also rumors and concept art for an Ant-Man themed microbrewery. Maybe there, fans can drown their sorrows over Spider-Man’s absence from the MCU.
Avengers Campus opens in 2020.
