Disney’s Avengers Campus expansion opens in 2028 and Iron Man is back
Disney announced at D23 that both Avengers Campus attractions at Disney California Adventure open in 2028, with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Anthony Mackie reprising their roles. The land is doubling in size and reconnecting to Cars Land.
Avengers Campus finally has a date, and Tony Stark is coming with it.
At the Horizons showcase at D23 on August 15, John Stamos made a surprise appearance to take over hosting duties from Neil Patrick Harris, joined by Imagineer Brent Strong and Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
The headline: both new attractions at Disney California Adventure, Avengers Infinity Defense and Stark Flight Lab, open in 2028.
They were announced back at D23 2024 without a target. Now they have one.
Avengers Campus is doubling in size and reconnecting to Cars Land
The expansion under construction will double the size of the existing land, which has been one of the smaller footprints at California Adventure since it opened in 2021.
There’s also a practical win for anyone who’s navigated the park during construction. Disney confirmed the land will reconnect with Cars Land, restoring a walkway that construction walls have interrupted.
That’s not glamorous, but if you’ve had to loop the long way around Radiator Springs lately, it matters more than another concept render.
Avengers Infinity Defense pits you against King Thanos
The bigger of the two attractions got real story details for the first time.
You enter as new recruits and get a pre-mission briefing from Ms. Marvel, played by Iman Vellani, reprising the role from the Disney+ series and The Marvels. The assignment is to reassemble the Avengers and stop King Thanos.
That name is worth noting. King Thanos isn’t the version from Infinity War. It’s a comics variant, an alternate-future Thanos who already won, which suggests Disney is pulling from the page rather than replaying the movies.
The ride combines large physical sets with big media scenes, carrying guests through Asgard, Wakanda, and New York City before the confrontation.
The cast reprising their film roles:
Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye
Robert Downey Jr. is playing Iron Man here and Doctor Doom in theaters
Here’s the wrinkle that makes this cast list stranger than it looks.
Downey is currently playing Victor von Doom in Avengers: Doomsday, hitting theaters this December 18. He appeared onstage at this same D23 on Friday night, alongside Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell, promoting exactly that.
So Disney is running two Robert Downey Jr. performances at once. In theaters, he’s the villain. At Disney California Adventure starting in 2028, he’ll be Iron Man again.
Both are canon in their own way, and neither cancels the other. It does mean a guest could watch Downey menace the Avengers in December, then ride an attraction two years later where his voice is helping save them.
Stark Flight Lab puts you in a gyro-kinetic pod
The second attraction is the more physical one, and its concept was first shared at SXSW in 2025.
Riders sit in two-person gyro-kinetic pods, roll along a track, then stop in front of a giant robot arm that whips them through a simulated flight. The pitch is training like a flying Avenger, with maneuvers inspired by Iron Man.
Downey returns here too, joined by Anthony Mackie as Captain America and Brie Larson as Captain Marvel.
Hong Kong is building an Avengers tower
Disney also gave updates on two international projects, both further along than most fans realize.
At Hong Kong Disneyland, a new Avengers pavilion will house Avengers Research Testing Labs, set in a facility where Stark Industries and Peter Parker develop new tech, which naturally attracts the wrong attention.
The attraction uses more than 120 feet of vertical storytelling space, traveling across Wakanda, Asgard, and beyond. A new Quinjet landing platform nearby will serve as a character meet spot.
Construction is well underway. Once the tower goes vertical, it will change the Tomorrowland skyline there considerably.
Shanghai is getting the world’s first Spider-Man land
The most notable international item is at Shanghai Disney Resort, and it’s a genuine first.
Disney is building the first land anywhere in the world dedicated exclusively to Spider-Man, home to a Shanghai division of W.E.B., the Worldwide Engineering Brigade that fans know from Avengers Campus in California and Disney Adventure World in Paris.
The story has Peter Parker and friends building Spider-Bots to help assemble a new coaster, which is the kind of premise that telegraphs its own punchline.
Imagineers are working with local artists on more than 20 murals throughout the land. And the construction detail buried at the bottom of Disney’s post is the most telling one: the final piece of track has been installed.
Track complete usually means a park is closer to opening than a press release lets on. Disney gave no date for Shanghai, which is a shame, because right now it’s the furthest along of anything announced.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Disney Parks Blog (August 15, 2026), the Horizons stage announcements, the 2028 opening window, the Cars Land reconnection, the full voice cast for both attractions, the King Thanos storyline, and the Hong Kong and Shanghai construction updates
The Walt Disney Company (August 14, 2026), the D23 Entertainment Showcase recap confirming Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and its December 18 release date