Avengers: Damage Control, released by Marvel entertainment and the virtual reality experience known as The Void, serves as a sequel to Avengers: Endgame and the previous films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Although its canonicity is up for debate, it comes after Spider-Man: Far from Home in the storytelling timeline.
The Void was developed by Tesla as a brand-new method of entertainment. It uses all five senses and state-of-the-art virtual reality interaction to give you completely realistic sensory input, putting you right into the thick of the action in various storylines. In addition to Avengers: Damage Control, The Void also has experiences currently out for Jumanji, Ghostbusters, and Star Wars.
Kicking things off, you attend a briefing in front of a screen held by Black Panther’s sister, Princess Shuri. She has developed an improvement on the Iron Man and Black Panther suits, and wants you to test them out. However, a disturbance at the Damage Control station in Los Angeles forces her to let you try the suits out in combat.
The staff of The Void then take you to put on your suit. This consists of a backpack and upper body harness that provides sensory input, as well as a fully immersive headset that flips down over the eyes. You are then led into a small room to calibrate your suit. You know it is working if you can see your costumed hands in front of you. You then step into a briefing area where you practice shooting targets. You shoot targets by holding your hand out straight. You shield from enemies by holding your arm in front of you at a perpendicular angle, parallel to your body. You can discharge the energy you gather with your shield. You can also use both arms for a super intense blast.
From there, the absolutely wondrous journey commences. You navigate a diverse group of obstacles and environments, fighting enemies and making friends with superheroes along the way. You travel between dimensions with Doctor Strange, save Spider-Man’s life, get yours saved by the Incredible Hulk, protect the S.H.I.E.L.D. hellicarrier from destruction, smell the delicious giant popcorn while shrunk with Ant-Man, and destroying the big bad, who you will recognize from an earlier film, once and for all. You feel, see, smell, taste, and hear all of this taking place. It is so vivid, that it might as well really be taking place!
The sets are also very thorough. You walk down stairs, pilot a shuttle, stand on balconies, maneuver moving platforms, and fly through the air. All of this is done through extra sensory input and walking a limited distance on the physical area provided. For example, you see a newel post in front of you in the Sanctum Sanctorum. If you are curious, you can reach out and grab it!
A great deal of voice talents from the Marvel Cinematic Universe have contributed their time and effort to making this a fulfilling experience, including Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, and others.
There are only a couple downsides to this experience. First off, some of the graphics are a little bit poor compared to the quality of, for example, Flight of Passage at Walt Disney World’s Pandora – The World of Avatar. Secondly, since you are actually moving around on a set, sometimes wayfinding can be a little bit confusing.
The level of sophistication in technology never ceases to be amazing. Just thirty years ago, most computers could not display colour images. Now, you can legitimately say that you have spent the afternoon as part of the Avengers!
For more information on The Void and their locations around the world, visit their official site www.thevoid.com
