Visitors to the Avengers Campus experienced something unusual at a popular Spider-Man show at the Disney California Adventure Park in the US last Thursday. During the Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure performance, the swinging animatronic Spider-Man apparently malfunctioned and crashed into a building, videos posted by onlookers on social media show. Because of the incident, which took place on June 9, the show had to be stopped for a couple of hours.
A video posted on Instagram by user Darren L shows how the stunt robot swinging and flipping through the air hits the facade of the building, leaving it damaged. The caption accompanying the video said the show briefly stopped but was up and running later.
"As with any flight, there can be some bumps along the way, but Spider-Man was back in action in time for his afternoon adventures in Avengers Campus,” a Disney official was quoted as saying in a Deadline report.
Meanwhile, the visitors seemed to enjoy the misadventure, which did not cause any injury to anyone.
The show switches between the programmed robot and a real-life performer playing Peter Parker, the Spider-Man. And the narration for the show appears to be programmed for eventualities like this one. In the crash video, just after the Webslinger hits the building, the narrator's voice can be heard saying: “The Web facility is not equipped with airbags,” to which, Peter Parker responds with an “ok” in his peppy voice.
Watch the video here:
The damage to the building was quickly repaired, Disneyland News Today said in a blog post, adding that the panels on the facade are designed in a way that they will break away if there is a malfunction involving the Spider-Man stunt robot. The blog also said how 'The Amazing Spider-Man' returned to the Avengers Campus soon that afternoon and resumed performances.
The actual show is supposed to look somewhat like this: