X

Disney teases Spider-Man acrobatic animatronic coming to Disneyland's Avengers Campus

Spidey can flip through the air, with the Marvel-themed area coming to Disneyland California in summer 2020.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor
Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.
Expertise News, mobile, broadband, 5G, home tech, streaming services, entertainment, AI, policy, business, politics Credentials
  • I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Corinne Reichert
2 min read
Spider Man Avengers Campus Disneyland

The Spider-Man attraction is coming to Disneyland's Avengers Campus in summer 2020.

Screenshot by Corinne Reichert/CNET

Disney has revealed a video of its new-age acrobatic animatronics, with a slow mo video of Spidey flipping through the air with the caption: "Spider-Man as you've never seen him before!" It's a preview of the Spider-Man attraction coming to the Avengers Campus area of the Disneyland Resort later this year.

"Spider-Man will soon swing into action above Avengers Campus opening this summer at Disney California Adventure Park at Disneyland," Disney tweeted Thursday. 

The Spider-Man figure is the animatronic acrobat robot Disney Research Hub has been working on for the past two years. The aerial acrobatics robot, originally nicknamed Stickman, was shown being boosted into the sky to spin and leap like a superhero back in July 2018, with the technology now being used for Disney's Marvel areas of its theme parks.

The robots previously tested had accelerometers, gyroscopes and laser range-finding data to perform their stunts. Disney researchers have also been training neural networks to control the acrobat animatronics' legs.

Disney finally unveiled details about its new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)-themed area arriving at Disneyland at its D23 expo in August last year. At Disneyland, California, there'll be a Spider-Man attraction known as the Worldwide Engineering Brigade, or WEB headquarters. WEB was founded by Tony Stark to "develop advancements in super-powered technology, including new enhancements to Spider-Man's suit as their debut project."

The attraction will be joining the Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout ride, which was built by re-theming the old Tower of Terror. Guardians was launched two years ago, in May 2017. The remainder of the Marvel-themed area is being built in the old A Bug's Land next to the Guardians ride, in the area adjacent to Cars Land.

Also coming to Avengers Campus in California is a merch store and character meet and greets, Entertainment Weekly reported in June. A Doctor Strange Show and an Ant-Man microbrewery were also previously rumored.

At Disneyland Paris, the Walt Disney Studios Park is getting a "reimagined attraction" featuring Iron Man and other Avengers including Captain Marvel, Black Panther and Captain America in 2020. Disney had previously described the new ride as a "hyper-kinetic adventure," with an immersive roller coaster being transformed into a Marvel-themed ride.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, the Marvel-themed area will be coming as part of a "multi-year expansion." It already features an Ant-man and The Wasp: Nano Battle attraction that opened in March 2019, where you face off against Hydra Swarm-bots. It's also got the Iron Man Experience, which launched in 2017 as a Marvel version of Star Tours where you get to battle Hydra.

How to watch every Marvel Cinematic Universe film in the right order

See all photos