Marvel Entertainment has partnered with Feld Entertainment to produce a live show that will tour throughout North America and will bring characters from the Marvel Universe to life. Titled Marvel Universe LIVE!, the show will feature the Avengers, X-men, and their rogue gallery of arch-villains.  The show begins its two year tour in Tampa on July 10th and have its world debut at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on August 13th.  The tour will make stops in at least sixty more cities in the US and Canada. Ticket prices range from $45-$150 depending on the venue and are on sale now at MarvelUniverseLive.com.

In an interview with USA Today, Marvel chief creative officer Joe Quesada discussed how the creators are focusing on creating a story  that’s engaging on all levels, from the veteran comic book fans to the newbies.

“You’re going to walk in,” he said, “and it’s going to feel like Marvel, it’s going to smell like Marvel, it’s going to taste like Marvel.”

The show’s story focuses on the Cosmic Cube (aka the Tesseract from the Avengers movie), a powerful item that has been split into pieces by Thor in order to keep it away from the bad guys. But that doesn’t stop his brother Loki who’s devised a plan to clone the Cube’s powers and become a universal threat.

Thor will team up with his fellow Avengers-Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, and Black Widow, alongside Wolverine and other heroes for a mission that will travel the world to find all the parts of the Cube before villains such as the Green Goblin, Green Goblin, the Red Skull, Doctor Octopus, Electro and Madame Hydra attempt to harness the power in the name of global domination.

Concept image of Tony Stark?’s Workshop from ?”Marvel Universe LIVE!”? a new arena show from Feld Entertainment that will utilize state-of-the-art 3-D projection to transform the entire arena floor and rear wall.
(Photo: Feld Entertainment)

Set pieces such as Tony Stark’s Workshop and Loki’s Underground Lair will assist in bringing the story to life using 3-D projections and large screens that will change the look and the feel of the arena as the story progresses.  But it’s not just the sets that are vital for bringing the story to reality, it’s also the characters.  In order for the characters to bring that realness for the fans, it’s important to have actors who embody them. And that’s why Feld Enterntainment’s producer Juliette Feld says that character development is very important.  “Everything we do has to start with what the fans want and what they’re going to expect to see.”

The show’s producers are putting together a cast which has the skills which match each hero and villain. They’re  looking for people with aerial acrobatic backgrounds, those who have skateboard or archery experience, and others who can do motorcycle stunts which are needed for those who will play Captain America, Falcon and Black Widow. In addition to these skills everyone must have martial-arts experience for the action sequences.

Show Director Shanda Sawyer, who was appointed by Feld six years ago to re-imagine the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus shows said, “All the superheroes are challenging because they’re superheroes,” says s “We really need to make these characters come alive for people, without the benefit of CGI and quick cuts and things you have in other mediums. How do you create superpowers in reality? Half of it is really finding the people who are already pretty superhuman.”

For the actor who portrays the Hulk, it will take more initiative to embody the character’s personality and how he moves, but Sawyer guarantees that “he’s going to be incredible.”

At first, Quesada was a little bit shocked by the list of characters that Feld wanted to use in the show. “I’m like, ‘Come on, seriously? This can’t happen!’ ” he said. “It’s going to happen. They’re pretty remarkable in what they’re coming up with.”

Sounds awesome right? You can take an exclusive look behind the scenes of Marvel Universe LIVE! in the video and below and view some concept pictures of some of the characters which will be in the show here.