AVENGERS STATION
Fails to excel
open now until March Location exCeL London
Visit time one hour
Many readers in the London area will know the ExCel centre for its hosting of two MCM Comic Con events each year. Now it’s the location of an exhibition (or “immersive experience”, to quote the blurb) devoted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe – though the exhibit’s in a separate, rather more compact building beside ExCel, close to the Prince Regent DLR station.
The remit is strictly the MCU movies – so no TV series, and nothing on the new animated Spider-Man film. Actually, there’s no Spidey at all – shame! Much of the exhibit covers the senior Avengers – Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor – with smaller spaces for the likes of AntMan, Black Panther and Falcon.
It’s slick and fun, but rather limited. It’s very screen-heavy – many of the displays are just shiny combos of text and videos (largely action scenes from the MCU films), which make you feel like you’re looking at a really well laid out web page. There are costumes and props, including a line of Iron Man suits and Steve Rogers’s trusty motorbike – sit down and take a selfie! – plus some interactive displays, but nothing truly outstanding.
The display text is moderately interesting, but written “inuniverse” (the idea being that you’re training to be a STATION agent), so there’s nothing on how the characters were realised on screen, or on their decades of comic development before they went Hollywood. Last winter, DC ran its own superhero exhibit at the O2, Dawn Of Super Heroes, which had far more on its characters’ real-life origins, and a more generous allotment of props and costumes.
This exhibit’s still enjoyable, though the finale is a let-down – a cheesy big-screen videogame where visitors lob stuff at Ultron. If only we could team up to battle Thanos instead. Andrew Osmond
Props include Steve Rogers’ trusty motorbike
It’s recommended that you buy tickets in advance, as there may be no availability on the door: www.avengersstation.co.uk.