Stark Expo will be held in the first floor of what was previously Innoventions, while the main event which is "Hulk Encounter" will entirely take over the second floor. Upon getting onto the "grounds" of the Stark Expo you are treated to a variety of different technology showcases all in a visual flavor that calls back to the iconic 1964 New York Worlds Fair.
As you go further down, you start seeing an array of posters and blueprints, a new breed of artificial intelligence which Tony Stark has nicknamed "Ultron". Blueprint plans are also in place to transfer the AI of Tony's trusted robo-butler Jarvis into the mechanical super hero known as "Vision". With this info, we realize that the timeline of this attraction is shortly before the start of the second Avengers movie in which Stark's Ultron program goes awry.
After passing through a museum of spare Iron Man parts and different suits (many of which are reproduced props used in the finale of Iron Man 3) guests ascend a staircase where we are ushered into the private lab of one Bruce Banner, a close associate to Stark. Going up the staircase, guests can notice a hole in wall and looking in can vaguely make out a fully formed Ultron watching Pinocchio on an old TV. The "I've Got No Strings On Me" song is playing, and...if you've seen any of the "Age of Ultron" trailers you can guess how Ultron interprets this song.
Description of Labs
Stark Labs will be a huge indoor theater space able to account for several AA robots, Hulks, and other Marvel-ous creatures. The ride system will be a hybrid of Carousel of Progress and Alien Encounter, with just a little bit of Mission Space style spinning thrown in for good measure. Guests enter the theater directly up the staircase from the first level and are then seated into one of 300 individual seats in the lab's "observation deck". The seats come complete with over-the-shoulder restraints in case of any "unexpected crisis situations".
In the center of a lab is a giant dome that has been completely blocked off by steel. As the show starts, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark comes on a big screen in the lab and introduces us to the experiment. The steel goes down over the dome which is now glass, and we see a very realistic looking AA of Mark Rufalo's Bruce Banner sitting calmly on a hospital bed.
Banner's Mission Statement
Banner explains that for the last decade of his life, he's been haunted by the creature known as the incredible Hulk. While at times the Hulk has served the Avengers very well with his brute strength, most notably in the battle of New York against Loki and his army. Still, the Hulk continues to haunt Banner much more than help, and with this latest experiment he hopes to free himself of the creature once and for all.
The general idea is to put Banner into such an enraged state that he and the Hulk become physically separated, meaning the Hulk will manifest itself outside of Bruce Banner's body and take on a consciousness all its own. A consciousness literally born out of rage. But don't worry! Stark Security is standing by to take down the big green guy with tranquilizer darts. The goal is to train the creature of the Hulk to become a fighting machine for The Avengers while Banner is freed from the burden. Sounds like a fool-proof plan, right!? I mean after all, this IS a theme park attraction. Stuff NEVER goes wrong during theme park attractions!
...And...Something Goes Wrong!
After establishing the means of the experiment, the steel over the dome is brought back up as Banner is subjected to extreme conditions meant to draw out the beast. We hear an intense screaming from the dome followed by silence. The steel shuts down over the glass and to our shock we see a passed out Banner lying in the hospital bed...And a fully realized 12 foot AA of the Hulk standing squeezed into the bubble. The Hulk of course is in a rage, so cannons come down into the dome to shoot him to sleep.
Just then we hear the sound of foreign laughter as a projected flash bolts across the screen. Suddenly the glass dome breaks and we see Hulk tied at the knees by QuickSilver.
"You Avengers think you can use Hulk as a new weapon. That work out so well for you with Ultron!" he mocks.
"Pietro!" hisses a female voice. The Scarlet Witch literally floats down to the floor level of the lab. Projected energy starts to glow around her and QuickSilver (both AAs made to look like their respective MCU actors) and Scarlet Witch fires it onto the Hulk. Her eyes suddenly glow dark green and QuickSilver chuckles.
"Try it sister...unleash your new power...show these fools the true power of the Hulk!"
We realize that Scarlet Witch has taken control of the Hulk. Every movement she makes mimicks the movement of the giant Hulk AA. It's hear that the lights start flashing in and out and the attraction starts to become similar to Alien Encounter. The visual trick that gets employed here is two Hulk AAs are actually in the theater on either side. As the seats begin to spin Carousel Theater style, except much faster, were thrown off by just how much of a presence Hulk seems to have over the lab.
Suddenly there's a mechanical failure and a terrifying evil chuckle only the likes of James Spader could provide. Ultron comes down to the center of the broken dome and reveals he's the one Scarlet Witch and QuickSilver are working for.
"You Avengers consider yourselves to be so heroic...So untouchable. And yet all it took as one easily malleable girl with equally malleable powers to bring your strongest asset to it's knees."
Hulk continues to rage out as Scarlet Witch struggles with the massive power being inside his head has given her. Suddenly Iron Man enters the scene to try to calm the Hulk. Hulk grabs Iron Man with both arms and has him in a position where Tony Stark is about to be ripped in half. We know it's Tony and not just a machine because the mask peels back to reveal his RDJ face.
Tony yells to Bruce who remains passed out on the hospital bed. In the midst of the chaos, Tony admits that trying to free Bruce of the Hulk, and especially having the arrogance to assume he'd be able to control the creature outside of Banner, was a crucial mistake.
"Doc...you gotta wake up buddy. Come on. Were all counting on you!"
Tony tries a couple more little pep talks before Hulk pulls him more and finally he lets out, "Ah screw it...Hey NERD! Get up and take responsibility once in your life will ya!"
Banner pops up in a rage, sees the situation at hand, and rushes directly into the Hulk. With a dramatic flash of light, Banner disappears and we can tell right away that he has transferred himself back into the Hulk's body. Grunting loudly, the only thing he can think to say is "Hulk...Tired". He lays down and another flash of light reveals the past out Banner, spirit of the Hulk still raging inside of him.
The lights go dark once again and we see a video feed of Ultron with Scarlet Witch and QuickSilver.
"Impressive, Avengers. You've shown to have more control of the Hulk than I was anticipating. Make no mistake though. This is only the beginning. Our armies will rise, our strings will be cut...your hope will be lost. Its only a matter of time before the Age of..." the video is cut off by a feed of Tony who apologizes for the mess and ushers guests out of the theater.
Upon returning to the first floor, guests can either exit the Stark Expo or participate in a variety of different activities which are meant to showcase the various Marvel technologies that have been on display in the MCU. Four "booths" will surround this area of Stark Expo.
The Collector's Booth features obscure Marvel technology as well as several of the Infinity Gauntlets.
The Carter Family Collection features a wide range of 1940s Marvel technology as seen on ABC's "Agent Carter".
Black Widow and Hawkeye play host to a meet N' greet as well as a small Training Academy type show for younger visitors who might find Hulk Encounter too intense.
Finally we have a huge collection of various Iron Man armors through the years, from early prototypes developed by Howard Stark to the famous "Hulk-Buster" Armor.
And that concludes our tour of Stark Expo and Hulk Encounter replacing Innoventions. The Marvel Movies have reached a point in our pop culture landscape that I truly believe these characters deserve more permanent presence outside of Meet N' Greets. Hopefully this project is just one small step in that direction.