AVENGERS INFINITY DEFENSE and STARK FLIGHT LAB Opening in 2028 as Disney Reveals New Avengers Campus Details
Avengers Campus at Disney California Adventure is expanding in a major way, two new attractions now have a 2028 opening window, and Disney Imagineering is building more Marvel experiences in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
The latest updates were revealed at D23, where John Stamos made a surprise appearance to temporarily take over hosting duties from Neil Patrick Harris. Stamos was joined by Walt Disney Imagineer Brent Strong and Marvel Studios President and Chief Creative Officer Kevin Feige, who shared new details about the growing lineup of Marvel attractions around the world.
The biggest news concerns Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, the two attractions currently under construction as part of the Avengers Campus expansion at Disney California Adventure. The project will double the size of the land, reconnect Avengers Campus with Cars Land, and both attractions are officially set to open in 2028.
Avengers Infinity Defense sounds like the big Marvel event ride fans have been waiting for. Guests will enter the experience as new recruits and receive their pre-mission briefing from Ms. Marvel, with Iman Vellani returning to play Kamala Khan.
The mission is appropriately huge. Guests have to reassemble the Avengers and stop King Thanos before he can unleash destruction across multiple worlds.
Disney has also assembled some major MCU talent for the attraction. Jeremy Renner returns as Hawkeye, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.
Once the mission gets underway, guests will board ride vehicles and move through massive physical environments combined with enormous media-driven sequences. The adventure will jump between familiar Marvel locations including Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City, with guests fighting alongside the Avengers before eventually encountering King Thanos.
Strong explained just how much Imagineering is throwing into the attraction: “The fun part about Avengers Infinity Defense is how we get to use every single trick in the Imagineering book – and inventing some new ones – to create this attraction.”
The combination of practical sets, large-scale screens, multiple Marvel worlds, returning MCU actors, and King Thanos has the potential to make this one hell of a fun Avengers adventure.
Then there’s Stark Flight Lab, which is taking a completely different approach to superhero action. Downey will once again appear as Iron Man, while Mackie returns as Captain America and Brie Larson reprises her role as Captain Marvel.
As Disney previously revealed, guests will sit inside two-person “gyro-kinetic pods” that travel along a track before arriving in front of a massive robotic arm. From there, riders are put through a simulated flight-training exercise featuring high-speed movements inspired by Iron Man and other Avengers.
Basically, Tony Stark is letting theme park guests test experimental flight technology. What could possibly go wrong?!
The attraction will send riders through different test stations, with the robotic system spinning and maneuvering the pods to create the feeling of superhero flight.
Paired with Avengers Infinity Defense, it gives Avengers Campus two very different experiences, one built around a giant multiversal battle and another focused on the physical sensation of training alongside the Avengers.
California isn’t the only place getting some serious Marvel firepower. A new Avengers pavilion is currently under construction at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, where guests will eventually enter Avengers Research Testing Labs. Stark Industries is working there alongside brilliant minds including Peter Parker, better known as Spider-Man, developing powerful new technology.
Naturally, powerful Avengers technology attracts exactly the kind of people you don’t want getting their hands on it.
The resulting adventure will use more than 120 feet of storytelling technology as guests travel through locations and realms including Wakanda and Asgard while joining Spider-Man and other Marvel heroes in the action.
A new Quinjet landing platform is also being constructed nearby and will serve as another location where guests can encounter superheroes during their visit. Construction is already well underway, and Disney says the project will become a major addition to the Tomorrowland skyline once the structure starts going vertical.
Meanwhile, Shanghai Disney Resort is getting something completely new with the first theme park land in the world devoted entirely to Spider-Man.
The land will introduce the Shanghai division of the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, better known to Marvel theme park fans as W.E.B. The organization already plays a role at Avengers Campus in Disney California Adventure and Disney Adventure World, with Tony Stark establishing it as a place where young inventors can experiment with advanced technology.
For Shanghai's version of W.E.B., Peter Parker and his friends have created a new collection of Spider-Bots designed to assist with experiments and, more importantly, help construct a brand-new Spider-Man coaster. Anyone familiar with Spider-Bots can probably guess that everything will go perfectly according to plan.
Disney Imagineers are also working with local artists on more than 20 murals for the land, with artwork celebrating science, Spider-Man, and the Avengers. Fans attending D23 can get an early look at some of that artwork at the Imagineering Pavilion inside the Anaheim Convention Center.
Disney also confirmed that the final piece of track for Shanghai's upcoming Spider-Man attraction has now been installed, marking another major construction milestone for the project.
Disney is putting a lot of energy into the next generation of Marvel theme park attractions. For Disneyland Resort fans, 2028 is now the year to watch. Getting a massive Avengers adventure featuring Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, and King Thanos alongside a completely different Stark-powered flight attraction could give Avengers Campus the scale it has needed since it first opened.
If Imagineering really is pulling out every trick it has for Avengers Infinity Defense, I'm very curious and excited to see what happens when we finally get into that fight with King Thanos.