Marvel riders thrills crowds

CAPTAIN America takes on an enemy during the Marvel Universe Live show.

COMIC books fans and mini Marvelites were plunged into an fully immersive world of good versus evil, stunts, explosions, fight scenes and fantasy during the Marvel Universe Live tour which arrived at the Manchester Arena last week.

Over 25 Marvel characters took to the stage on one epic quest - to thrill audiences with a big budget bonanza of bike stunts, fighting scenes, lasers and explosions.

The story may be on the flimsy side - the fight to retrieve parts of a cosmic cube before super baddie Loki and his crusty cohorts get their hands on it and control the world - but that didn't matter to the hundreds of tiny Thors and half pint Hulks who watched with wide-eyed wonder as the live action unfolded.

The first half sets the scene, introducing each of the main characters and the plot, while the second half gets down to business as the Avengers and co assemble to fight a seemingly never ending queue of villains ready to snatch the prized pieces.

The action, especially in the second half, is classic comic book capers although it does verge in panto at times with boos from the audience and a few choruses of 'he's behind you' as baddies creep up behind heroes.

But credit where credit's due, the choreography is impressive, mixing parkour and stunt fighting with flips, fights, fireworks and some seriously high falls.

The bike stunts over ramps, walls and multi-level scenery were particularly impressive, especially as they were all squeezed into quite a tight space, and Spidey himself is a joy to watch as he happily flings himself around the arena and hangs upside down from the Green Goblin's hover board.

Producers Feld Entertainment have spent two years researching and developing the show and, having already toured Europe, its clear that they have a super-sized hit on their hands.