Mighty Marvel on the Strip! We Visited Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

A few weeks ago, I visited Las Vegas and took a tour of the mighty Marvel presence on the Strip: Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N.

There it was, in big signage right along the main drag. I’ve given a lot of money to the Avengers in my years and this was my chance to finally win it back!

Oh. Wait. Nope. Not a casino. OK, but should still be pretty cool.

Your adventure begins in the gift shop (SPOILER: your adventure also ends in the gift shop, later). There are plenty of Funko POP!s, shirts, mugs, buttons, and everything else that you might want to have a superhero on. It’s more than enough to keep you busy until you’re directed to see your recruiting agent who will lead you into the training station. Yes, you’re here to join S.H.I.E.L.D.

Your recruiting agent leads you through a brief introduction and then sets you up to work with a training program hosted by Agent Maria Hill. Once she decides your security clearance is approved, you are granted access to the research of S.H.I.E.L.D. about its most powerful agents and enemies.

She said was S.T.A.T.I.O.N. stood for and then said we’d be tested. Damn near wet myself.

I’m going to go ahead and break the fourth wall at this point and just tell you about what the tour looks and feels like. Full rooms are dedicated to the history and memorabilia from the Captain America, Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man movies. This includes full character profiles, psychological write-ups, and science that looked fairly legit to this English Major. As a superhero fan, there’s plenty to delve into and no time limit on how long you can loiter, look, and learn.

It’s amazing to see the level of details in the props. From Cap’s injection capsule, to Black Widow’s uniform (why was she the only mannequin posed with the hip-pop?), to the Cradle that created The Vision, to the full hall of Iron Man suits, it’s a lot to examine. There are even shields you can pose with, a Mjolnir you can try to lift, and moving projection of helpful ants that guide the way through part of the exhibit.

I’ll take a quick moment to brag about the Iron Man simulator. A VR system that lets you shoot down enemies by focusing on them and blinking. My score was 5/10, which, an agent assured me, was great as the normal score is a 2/10. I’m over twice as OK at this than normal people.

In the end, you are lined up with other recruits and given an iPhone with a superhero symbol. You play as your corresponding hero in a battle against Ultron to test your reaction, aim, and ability to not accidentally turn off an iPhone (I failed at that last one…I was Hawkeye). It was a good time, we were all named probationary agents, and led back to the gift shop.

You have the option to buy an agent ID card as well as some superhero posing shots on your way out. It’s all in good fun and for the Marvel Cinematic Universe fan, a worthwhile way to spend some time the next time your visiting Las Vegas.