Last night I was able to attend a sneak preview of Discovery Time Square’s newest exhibit, Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N. Discovery teamed up with NASA to add an educational feel to the mix and give real world explanations on how things function, like what happens to Bruce Banner’s brain when it transforms into the Hulk, or Captain America’s nervous system while defrosting.
The event started off with some keynote speakers, including Marvel’s Senior Editor Nick Lowe and NASA’s Head of Science John M. Grunsfeld, all explaining what we’d expect to see and stressing that this was a preview event. Actually, I heard that a lot before walking into the exhibit, which is weird since the following morning was supposed to be the grand opening. When Nick Lowe mentioned thanking comic book fans, maybe 5 people cheered, and then he proceeded to get heckled by some woman up front just kinda shouting out JACK KIRBY!
First, you should know crews were still working to finish the exhibit. That meant that I wasn’t able to experience the full exhibit because most of the electronics still down and based on the “blacked out” areas a lot of carpentry was still not completed. There were some museum employees dressed as S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and employees of the company behind the tech of the exhibit, but they were in regular clothes and so i couldn’t tell who to ask questions about certain stations. So in theory i can only report to you what they told me it would do, according to whatever employee i found wondering aimlessly through out the exhibit.
Once everything is up and running, the tour starts off by you getting your own personalized S.H.I.E.L.D. badge. You can scan your picture, enter some basic info, and you use this to access the different stations at the exhibit. Which was a problem, since they gave no one any ID’s so unless there was an employee in the room to scan a temp ID, you couldn’t access any of the stations. Upon entering the exhibit you are lead 30 at a time, into a white room by some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, you’re scanned, and you receive a message from Agent Blake (Titus Welliver) asking for you help.
You then enter the Avengers briefing room, where you are given a rundown of what’s happened in the Marvel universe up to the point of the Avengers movie. The volume was really low in this room so i couldn’t exactly hear what was said, but from here on out you just sort of free roam into the the other labs. I have the feeling that this will be a somewhat guided tour to get people to move along and not hog up the different interactive elements of the exhibit. In between the briefing room and the next room is an array of customs from the b-squad of the avengers, Phil Colson, Maria Hill, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Nick Fury.
The second room is an SSR exhibit showcasing Captain America. In this room you are shown the biological changes Cap went through while being defrosted and you can also compare your strength and agility on various workstations. This room also contain various movie props like the Vita-Ray chamber, Cap’s current and retro suits, and shields.
The third room is the S.H.I.E.L.D. Bio-lab, and here you get to examine the science behind the Hulk. Since the main draws in this room were barely working, I was told that you get to stand in front of the Incredible Hulk and he mimics your movement. Some key moves that triggers some vibrations and loud noises are the Hulk’s clap and wall punch. Sounds cool. The other key thing in this room is the Tessaract machine that was on top of Stark Tower. I was told that you get to scan your hand print and it activates the machine, causing loud noises and the room to shake, but you know, it wasn’t working. The only thing working was seeing how Dr. Bruce Banner’s mind alters once he starts transforming into the Hulk.
http://youtu.be/CpeMCSmgNzI
The next area is a hallway labeled as the SECURE CONTAINMENT ROOM, this is the only area in the exhibit where nothing was down. It consisted of props of the villains including Hydra, Chitauri, Red Skull and Loki suits and weapon such as Loki’s sceptor.
By this point I was getting kind of disappointed that nothing was really working. Things started to look less and less finished by this point and pieces were “blacked out” and walled off. I only mention this because the official opening was in less than 24 hours and that didn’t seem like something feasible.
The next room was Thor’s room, and NOTHING was working here. Thor’s costume was on display, the light shinning on it was still working. There was supposed to be holographic representation of Mjolnir, and I’m sure it would have looked cool. There are other areas to see here but there was no employee around to tell me what they were supposed to do.
Now onto what i am sure should be the pièce de résistance, which it was not. This could be described as Tony Stark’s workshop, and like a true workshop things are roped off and not fully working. I don’t think the floor was even fully finished, since I saw multiple people tripping over part of the Arc Reactor. The only thing visible was Iron Man’s suite, but it was roped off and you had to be 20 feet away. There was some neuroscan station, but again no employee was around to explain anything to me, nor scan an ID card.
The last room, of course, is a gift shop.
Overall, I think that this will be a solid Marvel’s Avengers exhibit. It is unfortunate that nothing was properly running while i was there, but if it does what they say it will, I expect this exhibit to be packed. The layout of the place is very stunning and cool and clean just how you would expect a S.H.I.E.L.D. lab to look. I overheard an employee say that this was built in a sound stage out in Hollywood and brought over in trailers. There were signs stating this exhibit was opening the next day, but honestly nothing seemed ready and I don’t see how it could be fully functioning anytime soon. i would suggest people wait a month or two before dropping any kind of money on this. On my way out i was given a free pass to return, so hopefully i can see it in all its working glory!
Take a look at the photos I took at the exhibit below, and let us know if you’ll be headed there yourself!