The next ride in Disney's ever-growing Marvel Theme Park Universe now has an official opening date. Hong Kong Disneyland announced today that its Ant-Man and the Wasp: Nano Battle! ride will open to the public on March 31.
Hong Kong's Ant-Man ride is not an original construction, but a retheme of its former Buzz Lightyear shooter attraction. In this new adventure, visitors will battle an army of Swarmbots sent by Hydra to steal a data core in the park's S.H.I.E.L.D. pavilion.
From the park's press release, "Aboard one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest combat vehicles, D/AGR, the Defense/Assault Ground Rover (aka 'the Dagger'), guests are issued an EMP Blaster and engage in a heroic battle alongside Ant-Man and The Wasp to defeat [Arnim] Zola and his Swarmbots."
The new attraction extends the narrative of Hong Kong Disneyland's original Marvel-themed ride, Iron Man Experience, in which Iron Man defends the Arc Reactor atop Stark Tower in Kowloon from Hydra.
"We are excited that this attraction continues the thrilling adventure from Iron Man Experience and elevates the Marvel experience at HKDL for fans in Hong Kong and from across the globe," Dale Sheehan, creative producer of the attraction from Walt Disney Imagineering, said. "Ant-Man and The Wasp are quickly emerging as a quirky, funny Super Hero duo and they are hugely popular in this part of the world. We can’t wait to take fans deeper into the action and humor of the duo in this dimensional, interactive experience."
Disney is creating a meta-narrative to connect not just these two Marvel rides, but all its Marvel-themed attractions around the world — much like its Marvel Cinematic Universe connects most Marvel superhero movies and the Society of Explorers and Adventurers connects many of Disney's original IP attractions.
To support the Marvel meta-narratives, each park featuring new Marvel lands — Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and Disney California Adventure — will become the home to Stark Industries campuses, as the Avengers look "to empower and inspire all potential recruits willing to step up and become heroes."
(That means you, by the way.)
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprised their roles as Ant-Man and The Wasp for the Hong Kong attraction and composer Christophe Beck created the score for the ride.
TweetSEA?
Though I am sure that we can develop a Grand Unifying Theory for Star Wars, Marvel and SEA without too much effort.
I wish Disney would take the opportunity presented by Marvel to create a new zone. The Stark Expo gives the perfect backdrop IMO - not only does it allow for many of their "modern" properties to slot right in, I challenge anyone watching that bit of Iron Man 2 to tell me they can't see that it's clearly inspired by Walt's Progress City movies.
The best thing about unifying Marvel with Stark is that it's not being unified by Lannister.
I'm still waiting for a big ride in Disney World/Disneyland based on S.E.A...
Though I'll probably wait a while.
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Star Wars Marvel Star Wars Pixar Marvel Star Wars Marvel. Sheesh does Disney have anything these days that it didnt just buy from someone else?