| Marvel Super Hero Island | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Marvel Super Hero Island in late afternoon | |
| Universal Islands of Adventure | |
| Status | Operating |
| Soft opening date | March 27, 1999 |
| Opening date | May 28, 1999 |
| Ride statistics | |
| Attraction type | Marvel Comics–themed area |
| Designer | Universal Creative |
| Theme | Marvel Comics Pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) |
Marvel Super Hero Island is an area atUniversal Orlando'sIslands of Adventure park inOrlando, Florida that is themed after popularMarvel Comics superheroes. The area had a soft opening on March 27, 1999, before officially opening on May 28, 1999, ten years prior to Universal competitorDisney's acquisition ofMarvel Entertainment in 2009. The island is home to four attractions, includingThe Incredible Hulk andThe Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. Marvel Super Hero Island's architecture and theming is modeled after a Marvel comic book, with a comic book color scheme, amplified angles, and cutouts of many of the most popular Marvel characters.
Marvel Super Hero Island was originally conceived as "DC Superhero Land", an area featuringDC Comics superheroes and inspired by the success ofBatman (1989). Along with the success ofUniversal Studios Florida's opening in 1990,MCA Inc. (then-owner ofUniversal Pictures andUniversal Destinations & Experiences) andWarner Bros. began entering negotiations in the early 1990s for theme park rights to DC Comics for the "second gate" adjacent to Universal Studios Florida, originally known as "Cartoon World" (later changed to Islands of Adventure). Ultimately, the deal fell through,[1] asTime Warner acquiredSix Flags in whole in 1990 and obtained the full license to DC Comics, and due to the heated dispute regardingroyalty payment for the characters' park presence between Warner Bros. and MCA.[2]
Meanwhile,Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. sold off their characters'film rights to severalmajor film studios, including Universal Pictures. MCA then eventually negotiated with Marvel for the theme park rights to their characters and both companies signed an agreement on March 22, 1994. This contract stipulated that "MCA will construct a complex of attractions, stores and food venues heavily themed around the Marvel properties" under the Marvel Universe banner at the second gate.[3] The agreement remains in perpetuity (aka good faith), or indefinitely, unless Universal decides to close the Marvel Universe area, stop making payments for property usage, or Marvel opts out of the contract providing that it needs a reasonable explanation that Universal is mishandling the usage of their property.[3]
Construction ofIslands of Adventure began in 1997, with the Marvel Universe area being officially named "Marvel Super Hero Island". Islands of Adventure opened up to soft openings on March 27, 1999, and officially opened two months later on May 28. Marvel Super Hero Island is among the six of the original islands in the park.
In 2002, duringHalloween Horror Nights 12, Marvel Super Hero Island was converted into a scarezone known as "Island Under Siege", loosely based upon the 14-part comic book story,Maximum Carnage. It featured an alternative plot where Spider-Man's enemyCarnage kills most superheroes and takes over the island, causing chaos. A haunted house, "Maximum Carnage", was also featured in which guests had to explore through Carnage's hideout containing all his henchmen and the remains of several superheroes.
On August 31, 2009,the Walt Disney Company (Universal's largest rival in the theme park market) agreed to purchaseMarvel Entertainment for $4 billion. The deal was finalized on December 31, 2009 in which Disney acquired full ownership on the company.[4] Universal stated that the acquisition would not impact its theme park licensing agreement with Marvel, while Disney CEOBob Iger acknowledged that Disney would continue to honor any contracts that Marvel currently has with Disney competitors.[5]
The 1994 agreement between Marvel Entertainment and Universal's parent companiesComcast/NBCUniversal governs the use of Marvel properties in non-Universal theme parks and dictates what parks in the region can use such properties. Currently, Islands of Adventure uses theAvengers,Spider-Man,X-Men, and theFantastic Four. The contract forbidsWalt Disney World from installing these characters, as well as the other characters in the same "family" (i.e. any team members, side characters, and villains associated with the superheroes). In addition, Disney is not allowed to use the "Marvel" name in all of the United States, nor create a Marvel-themedsimulator ride within the legal designated regional distances of any Universal theme park in the United States regardless of whether the Marvel characters are being used by Comcast/NBCUniversal.[3]
TheDisneyland Resort is not constrained by the agreement, as the contract allows Disney to utilize any Marvel character (regardless of whether it is being used by Comcast/NBCUniversal) west of theMississippi River. However, the resort is still bound by the clause of not being able to use the "Marvel" name. Disney parks outside the United States are permitted to use any Marvel properties, the Marvel name, as well as any type of ride they want. BothHong Kong Disneyland andDisney California Adventure have opened Marvel attractions since the acquisition, includingIron Man Experience andAnt-Man and The Wasp: Nano Battle! at the former andGuardians of the Galaxy – Mission: Breakout! at the latter. In 2017, Disney announced plans to erect a series ofMarvel Cinematic Universe-themed lands calledAvengers Campus at Disney California Adventure, Hong Kong Disneyland, andDisneyland Paris, with the first one opening in June 2021 at Disney California Adventure.Shanghai Disneyland also have plans to incorporate Marvel attractions, whileTokyo Disneyland opened aBig Hero 6 attraction called "The Happy Ride with Baymax".[6]
Meanwhile, Disney World has taken other measures to promote its Marvel properties within the Resort. At theD23 Expo on July 14–16, 2017, Disney announced thatGuardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind would be coming toEpcot, which forced the closure ofEllen's Energy Adventure on August 13.Monorail trains have been wrapped in advertisements promoting films such asThe Avengers,Iron Man 3, andCaptain America: Civil War. As these monorail trains feature Marvel characters that are used at Islands of Adventure, they are operated only on the Resort and Express lines of theWalt Disney World Monorail System, which run entirely outside the theme parks, unlike the Epcot line, which enters and loops through its namesake park. The resort does have a Marvel-themed store, Super Hero Headquarters. However, it is also located outside of park gates inDisney Springs. Marvel characters not connected with the ones at Islands of Adventure also appears atDisney's Hollywood Studios in form of meet and greets, such asStar-Lord andGamora fromGuardians of the Galaxy,[7][8] as well asDoctor Strange fromDoctor Strange.[9]
Marvel Super Hero Island currently features four attractions.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man is amotion-based3Ddark ride, which was considered a huge technological achievement, combining3-D film, ride movement, andspecial effects. The ride takes place inNew York City and featuresSpider-Man taking on theSinister Syndicate, when it is learned that they seize theStatue of Liberty with an anti-gravity gun and threatens to destroy the statue if the city does not surrender to them. Guests enter through theDaily Bugle with empty offices and apparently all of the reporters have fled in the midst of the carnage. With no reporters left, theBugle's editor-in-chiefJ. Jonah Jameson hatches a plan to send guests as would-be-reporters to cover the story in the news-gathering vehicle, known as the SCOOP.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster is alaunched roller coaster themed to theHulk. From 1999 to 2015, guests entered the science laboratory of Bruce Banner with many televisions showing a cartoon of the story centered around the Hulk. After the Hulk roller coaster was opened in 2016 as part of the refurbishment, a new, original storyline was added with a redesigned queue experience that places guests inside a perilous scientific experiment led byThunderbolt Ross, which shows CGI animations of test subjects being exposed togamma radiation and being transformed into Hulk-like creatures.
Doctor Doom's Fearfall is aspace shot ride based around theFantastic Four's main enemy,Doctor Doom. The plot involves Doom's latest invention by using the guests' fear as part of an effort to defeat the Fantastic Four. The guests become a subject of Doom, who traps them to extract their fear.
Storm Force Accelatron is ateacup ride themed after a popular member ofX-Men,Storm. It opened on May 28, 2000, a year after the rest of the Marvel Super Hero Island attractions opened. Riders are made to spin around to power the Accelatron, a device that amplifiesmutant abilities, to allow the X-Men,Professor X and Storm, to defeatMagneto.
Marvel Super Hero Island is also home to dining and merchandise shops.Cafe 4 is a futuristic command center-like restaurant themed after characters from the Fantastic Four universe, featuring acafeteria withItalian-American cuisine options.Captain America Diner is a restaurant themed aroundCaptain America and other members of theAvengers (e.g.,Iron Man,Thor,Scarlet Witch,Ant-Man, etc.) as well as its related villains, featuring fast food such as cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, chicken fingers, and chicken salad. Merchandise items are sold at a variety of themed stores includingSpider-Man Shop (which guests exits fromThe Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride),Marvel Alterniverse Store,Comic Book Shop, andOakley. "Meet Spider-Man and the Marvel Super Heroes" is a meet-and-greet attraction, where guests can meet people portraying superheroes includingWolverine, Storm,Cyclops,Rogue, Spider-Man, and Captain America.
The following list of characters appear at Marvel Super Hero Island. This includes from actual costume appearances to 2D drawings all around buildings to videos seen at attractions.
| Marvel Super Hero Island |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Toon Lagoon | ||
| Skull Island | ||
| Jurassic Park | ||
| The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade | ||
| Events | ||
| Publications | |
|---|---|
| Universe | |
| Lines and imprints | |
| Editors-in-chief / executive editors | |
| Adaptations | |
| Related | |
28°28′16″N81°28′18″W / 28.471140°N 81.471565°W /28.471140; -81.471565
