Marvel’s Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N is a brand new immersive experience that opened its door outside the ExCel London on November 30th 2018.

S.T.A.T.I.O.N. is an acronym for Science Training and Tactical Intelligence Operative Network, where guests will step inside the popular films and become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe storyline, whether trying to lift Thor’s hammer or taking a sneaky peak at Bruce Banners Lab.

The multi-room experience works more as a showcase of props and information from the MCU, with a degree of the interactive element coming from pressing buttons on various displays.

The experience starts with a video briefing from Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) which works as a fitting introduction to the overall atmosphere: giant screens line the walls, darkness everywhere else, staff members that stay in character at all times. It’s clear that a lot of effort has gone into ensuring that this experience feels as authentic as possible.

The costumes from the films, hidden behind glass cabinets, look fantastic and it was great to be so close to them, seeing tiny little details that I’d missed when watching the films. The selection of costumes were nicely varied with my personal favourites being Ant Man’s full suit, Black Panther’s helmet, Captain America’s WWII suit and Falcon’s flying harness. There are also a few titbits scattered around such Cap’s shield, Wakandan Kimoyo beads and Dark Elf masks. The iconic Hall of Armours set piece is also here as is a life size (?) recreation of the Hulkbuster armour and Vision’s birthing chamber.

In terms of interactive displays, there is a mounted Harley Davidson motorbike that Cap rode in Age of Ultron which is a perfect photo opportunity, as are the mounted Cap shields and a Sword in the Stone style Mjolnir replica. A grip strength displays measures your hand power and tells you which Avenger you equate to (Iron Man, in my case) whilst a reaction shooting game (akin to a lot of app games) is a fun little competitive element.

The most impressive interactive display is a motion-controlled Hulkbuster game, where you control the behemoth in rail shooter style gameplay to defeat a horde of Ultron Sentries from Age of Ultron. Although the calibration wasn’t fantastic (perhaps black was a back colour to wear in the predominantly dark experience), the game is a lot of fun and worth queueing up for.

The final room features a ‘final’ battle with Ultron and concludes with a debriefing from Maria Hill.

The total experience took me around 45 minutes to complete and I participated in everything the tour had to offer but I can imagine that families with small children would take significantly longer. Some people may find the price tag a little high for such a short experience but if you are a big fan of the MCU then you’ll get the most of S.T.A.T.I.O.N and it’ll certainly be worth your while.

I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the local area but if you’re travelling from far away then maybe plan a few other activities for your trip as well.