Marvel fans young and old will want to run, not walk to COSI’s newest exhibit. The exhibit, which opened on November 26, 2021, features over a dozen costumes directly from Marvel Studios as well as comics, artifacts from Marvel history, and an interactive Iron Man experience. Costumes include Black Panther, Captain America, Spider-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy’s Starlord and Gamora, Captain Marvel, and others! They even have three of the Iron Man suits.
As guests move through the exhibit, they will be able to take photos with several photo-ops, such as a life-sized the Thing on a couch, Spider-Man crawling down a wall, and various other opportunities. The exhibit includes an interactive Iron-Man exhibit in which guests stand in a room in front of a screen which directs them to hold out their arms like Iron-Man as the program ‘builds’ the suit onto them on screen. Guests then get the chance to blast at targets on the screen, moving their arms like Iron-Man would in the suit.
The exhibit not only showcases the suits and props from various movies, such as the Tesseract from the Avengers series but also is steeped in the rich history of the Marvel Universe. On the way in, just past the introductory video and a few of the Marvel comics is a tribute to Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel and of several of the characters that we know and love today. The wall piece showcases all of his Marvel movie cameos, as well as gives background on the man behind the genius.
While being well laid out, with seemingly plenty of room, the first day was understandably overcrowded, especially for an event happening during COVID. Tickets are sold in batches of a maximum of 120 people during 15 minute intervals, however other than not allowing people in until five minutes before their time, there’s no regulation. No one is in the exhibit to encourage people to keep moving. It’s understandable that the staff want everyone to get the chance to experience the exhibit for as long as possible, but it leads to backups. On the day that I visited, there were some lines that people had formed to assumedly keep things moving, but it was also extremely crowded and often times took 15 to 20 minutes to move between different parts of the exhibit. The largest part of the crowd centered around the Iron-Man VR experience, as it takes roughly 10 minutes to complete the experience as is.
Once exiting the exhibit, fans can find a fair selection of merchandise. Most relate to the Avengers, as they are the main draw of the attraction. From shirts to books on the history of the Marvel Universe to keychains, there’s something for everyone to remember the experience. However, I will say that there isn’t any ‘experience exclusive’ merchandise that marks the exhibit itself.
Despite the crowds, it’s a must-see for any Marvel fan new or lifelong, young or old. There’s something for everyone, no matter what you’re a fan of, from Avengers to X-Men to Daredevil.
Check out the photos below!
Executive Editor/Creative Director