TORONTO: Ever wonder what it is like to be an Avenger?
Well wonder no more. Just make your way to the Avenger’s STATION (Scientific Training And Tactical Intelligence Operative Network) and get certified.
This marvelous exhibit at Yorkdale Mall on Dufferin Street in Toronto is super charged with immersive and interactive moments with Marvel’s superheroes and villains.
As you enter, you get the feeling that the space stone, one of the infinity stones, is teleporting you to another dimension and sure enough you enter the Marvel Comic Universe.
Commander Maria Hill, former director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, welcomes you with a serious note, saying that you are about to have the education of your lifetime.
The experience starts off with a bang as the first superhero you immerse yourself into is Iron Man. There are several stationary figures and lots of information all in neon telling you the story of how he came to be and the evolution of his armored suit.
However, the real fun is the immersive experience as the latest form of his suit wraps itself around you and you become Iron Man! Villains appear all around and you use his famous repulsors, power blasters that emit from the palms of his hands, to vanquish them. You learn a lot about what is up his armoured sleeve than you thought was possible! It is the first and extremely exciting scientific training!
From the Iron Man laboratory, you walk into another room for an interactive session with the Incredible Hulk where you learn the process that changes Bruce Banner to the Hulk and back. Then an interactive screen shows off the Hulks most popular and coolest “smash” moves.
As a skinny student of South Asian origin commented, “I am a brown skinned ‘hulka’ (thin and scrawny) from Incredible India, but now I am the Incredible green skinned Hulk!” (Talk about play on words!)
From there, in another room, one gets training to become Captain America with his Vibranium shield and to ride on his famous bike. Captain Marvel and Black Panther (did you know that his uniform has the language of Wakanda inscribed on it?) and Wakanda also form part of the training and tactical intelligence. I will leave that to your imagination.
Then follows a mind-blowing voyage from Midgard (earth) to Asgard (heaven) through the immersive bifrost rainbow bridge and a chance to see if you can lift Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir! It is a trip in itself as you are transported to the home of the Norse gods and get trained to be like the all powerful Thor, God of Thunder! There is a famous saying:
“As thou art strong, so Thor be strong,
“As thou canst fight, so Thor canst fight,
But, as thou be mortal , Thor be God of Thunder!”
And he proceeds to clobber his adversary with his uru hammer, Mjolnir!
There are sessions of intelligence training with heroes Hawkeye, Ant Man, Wasp, Vision, Falcon, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch and a room with the tesseract, infinity stones (coloured gems that control: mind, power, reality, soul, space and time) and the omnipotent Thanos (Thanos is said to have an IQ of over 9000). There is also a room with all the Avengers and an interactive screen to match the heroes with their weapons. And you are given a score! So make sure you take notes!
Finally comes the chance to pick your team whether it is with Thor, Black Widow, Captain America or another. You get the electronic weapon associated with the team you choose (examples: hammer for Thor, shield for Captain America, bow and arrows for Hawkeye) and you use it to vanquish whatever villain shows up on your screen. Loads of fun!
After all that Maria Hill shows up again and accredits you as an Avenger and tells you to be attentive to a call from S.H.I.E.L.D. at anytime to defend earth!
You are now an official Avenger!
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