One of the exhibits at Wellington's latest attraction. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Wellington has hosted the global premiere of a new Marvel Universe exhibition.
Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Exhibition is on at the Tākina Convention Centre. It opens to the public from Thursday and will run through to the end of April.
Home to Iron Man, Thor and their band of Avengers, the exhibition explores Marvel's 80-year history.
Marvel fans are in for a treat with a life-size model of The Thing, costumes from Black Panther and an original copy of the first Marvel comic published in 1939.
The exhibition, which was curated by Patrick Reed and Ben Saunders, is their third Marvel collaboration.
"We want audiences to feel like they're part of the Marvel universe. Whether you're a lifelong comic reader, a casual fan who has seen a couple of Marvel movies, or somebody who knows nothing about superheroes, there's something in this show that you'll find interesting," Reed said.
"The first Marvel comic book was published almost 85 years ago, and there's been so much amazing work, so many wonderful stories and characters, so many brilliant creators, that we could fill entire museums and still not cover it all. The most difficult thing in working on these projects isn't figuring out what to include, but what to leave out," he said.
Curators Ben Saunders, left, and Patrick Reed. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The exhibition includes: life size sculptures, original artefacts, costumes, props and original hand drawn comics.
For those wanting a pic with their favourite superhero, there are a few of those opportunities as well.
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Saunders said they had a good relationship with Marvel, which made sourcing set pieces relatively easy.
The challenge was the hand drawn original pages for the comics.
"Marvel adopted a policy of returning the comic art to the artists in the 1980s, and the artists then mostly sold the art to collectors for a form of secondary income.
"So what that means is that all these iconic moments from comic book history, all these great Marvel stories that then get translated into films and cartoons and so on, that none of those pages are in any publicly accessible collection, they're all in private hands."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Saunders said that meant it was also the only place many people would be able see an original comic.
Wellington Deputy Mayor Laurie Foon said having the Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Exhibition premiere in Wellington was a big deal for the city.
"This upcoming exhibition will attract visitors from around the motu and international guests too and will continue to build on Pōneke's impressive global reputation as an entertainment and film industry powerhouse," she said.
The new exhibition space and Wellington being "this real centre of cultural production for film" made the city an exciting opportunity for the premiere, she said.
Marvel: Earth's Mightiest Exhibition opens on 14 December 2023 and runs until 28 April 2024.