Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth Set to Return for New Avengers Ride at Disney California Adventure, Cast & Trailer Revealed
Avengers Campus has been one of Disney California Adventure’s most popular additions since it opened back in 2021, but the land’s promised second wave of attractions has taken years to materialize. Disney first teased plans for a dedicated Avengers dark ride all the way back at the D23 Expo in 2019, originally envisioning a Quinjet-based adventure that would send guests flying alongside the team to Wakanda and beyond.
That original concept shifted considerably by 2022, when Disney revealed the ride would instead lean into the multiverse, pitting guests against a menacing variant known as King Thanos rather than the villain fans already knew from the films. Construction on the project was set to begin in 2025, but concrete details about the ride’s story and cast remained scarce for years after that initial reveal.
This weekend’s D23 Ultimate Disney Fan Event finally filled in those gaps. Disney confirmed that the ride, officially titled Avengers Infinity Defense, will open in 2028 at Disney California Adventure, with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, and Iman Vellani all set to reprise their Marvel Cinematic Universe roles for the attraction.
According to Disney, riders will be welcomed as new recruits by Vellani’s Ms. Marvel before teaming up with Hawkeye, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man to battle King Thanos across multiple worlds. The dark ride will replace the site of the former Backstage Red Car Trolley barn and is designed to seat 12 riders per vehicle across three rows.
Avengers Infinity Defense won’t be arriving alone. Disney also confirmed a second new attraction, Stark Flight Lab, a flight-spinning ride set to open the same year that will feature Downey Jr., Mackie, and Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel acting as in-universe flight instructors guiding guests through training missions.
Together, the two new rides will effectively double the size of Avengers Campus, joining existing attractions like Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! and WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure. That expansion places Avengers Campus among several major projects Disney unveiled during this year’s D23 presentation, alongside new experiences themed to ‘Coco’ and an upcoming Avatar-themed destination planned for a later announcement.
The wait for concrete details has stretched on for so long that plenty of fans had grown skeptical the ride would ever move beyond concept art. With construction confirmed for both attractions and a firm 2028 opening date now locked in, Avengers Infinity Defense finally gives Disney California Adventure guests a timeline to look forward to after years of teasers stretching back to before the pandemic even began.
Getting five MCU actors to commit to reprising their roles specifically for a theme park attraction also signals just how seriously Disney and Marvel are treating the project’s presentation. Pairing that star power with the King Thanos storyline suggests Disney is aiming to give the ride a genuine narrative stake rather than treating it as a simple retread of the films’ climactic battles.
With Avengers Campus already established as one of the park’s most consistently busy areas, doubling its footprint with two star-studded new rides positions Disney California Adventure to remain a major draw for Marvel fans well into the next decade.
Which part of the new Avengers Campus expansion are you most excited for?
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