Version 2: The Multiverse Family Dark Ride

By the 2022 D23 Expo, a whole lot had changed… Though Disney had never officially canceled the Quinjet ride, post-COVID, then-CEO Bob Chapek confirmed that the project was – at best – permanently delayed. It made sense for several reasons, not the least of which being the “Cons” we mentioned above. Presided over by Chapek, the 2022 D23 was unique in that it included zero announcements of otherwise unknown rides… but Parks Chairman Josh D’Amaro did surprisingly reconfirm Disney’s plans for an Avengers ride, now completely reimagined.

Dropping the “Infinity War” setting, the Quinjet wrap, and the flight to Wakanda, the new Avengers attraction would instead loosen the reigns and let the Multiverse in. Represented not by a looming white Avengers complex, but by an otherworldly purple mist concentrated just beyond the Avengers HQ facade, the new ride would use an entirely different story, setting, and ride system...

PROS

• More aligned with today’s MCU “Saga.” Post-Endgame, we enter the next 30+ film MCU era, “The Multiverse Saga.” Beginning with 2021’s WandaVision and theoretically concluding with Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026, the Multiverse Saga adds a whole lot of myth, magic, and multiversal mayhem to the MCU. Now granted, if construction began on this ride today, the Multiverse Saga would likely be over before it opens. But even still, the Multiverse anchor allows it to be highly adaptable and smartly disconnected from whatever the aesthetic du jour of the MCU might be. Speaking of which… 

• The “best of both worlds.” Leaning into the Multiverse allows this ride to do what a ride anchored to the Infinity Saga can’t. It means that this ride can be as flexible as the land itself. Drawing from every reality, we’ll see our universe’s original Avengers – Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow – plus versions of the characters drawn from later on the timeline (like Sam Wilson’s Captain America, She-Hulk, and Scarlet Witch) and variants torn from the Multiverse (like an animated Spider-Man, Captain Britain, Werewolf by Night, and more). The ride’s villain will even be “King Thanos” – a version of the Infinity Saga’s “Big Bad,” arriving to our universe from one where he won. It’s a smart way to anchor the ride in Marvel’s best-known characters while also staying adaptable to whatever’s on the horizon.
• A modest Marvel production. For Disney, it’s no doubt a “pro” that this ride will use tried-and-true ride systems – probably, a trackless, LPS-based system (like Ratatouille, Rise of the Resistance, Runaway Railway, et al) versus the more complex, technological, and show stopping ambition of “Version 1.” For fans, the switch reads as something of a downgrade in ambition, matching the cost-cutting and redressing of former CEO Bob Chapek, who likely would’ve tasked Imagineers with paring the ride back to a less intense, less costly version. Is that a “pro” for fans? Well…

CONS

• Trading thrills for family fare. Disney California Adventure needs more dark rides and more family rides, so making the anchor of Avengers Campus both is smart. However, using the park’s last significant expansion pad for what Disney describes as a family adventure feels like a step down after promises of a U-Ticket thrill ride. That’s not to say it couldn’t still be a jaw-dropper (Rise of the Resistance is a “simple” dark ride on paper, and mixing in screens could create an Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man scenario, which would be nothing to sneeze at)… but frankly, we just don’t know enough details to know yet… Which brings us to… 
• We don’t know much about it. While we can guess at the ride system of this Multiverse attraction based on concept art (and can assume based on the many heroes involved that it’ll be mostly if not entirely screen based), we just don’t have any real details to go on. What’s frustrating about that, given Disney’s typical timeline, if construction began today, we’d expect it would be at least four years until the ride was ready to open, so the fact that we haven’t even taken step one signals that we’ve got a long way to go… 
• Gotta see it? A headlining, anchoring, U-Ticket, ultra-complex Marvel thrill ride would serve not just as a much-needed draw for California Adventure, but as something of a Mecca for Marvel fans the world over. We can see “Version 1” of the ride being a jaw-dropping mega-ride that would draw Avengers fanatics from across the world. We’re not so sure that a trackless, screen-based dark ride (if indeed that’s what “Version 2” is) will really put Disneyland Resort and California Adventure on the map. 

Your Choice

So if you stood in the shoes of Bob Iger and Josh D’Amaro and were able to activate one of the last expansion pads in Disney California Adventure with an Avengers E-Ticket, the question is, which concept would you greenlight? Would you choose “Version 1 – The Quinjet Thrill Ride,” “Version 2 – A Multiverse Family Dark Ride,” or “Version 3 – Your Own Blue Sky Idea”? Cast your vote, and let us know your ideas in the comments below!

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