Let me preface this by saying, as a longtime Marvel fan, I was both intrigued and excited to see how MARVELous The Show was going to portray my favourite superheroes through risque song, dance and stunts.

I’ve been following the film franchise since Tony Stark first donned his Iron Man suit, and have even stuck it out through some of the recent underwhelming additions to the cinematic universe. Clearly I’m not the only one, with the line outside The Flamingo in Gluttony featuring cameos from audience members decked out in Deadpool, Wolverine, The Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man cosplay. 

As the audience filed in, Deadpool set the tone for the “raunchy bedtime story” he was about to narrate.

Accompanied by his star-spangled entourage, everyone’s favourite captain, Steve Rogers was the perfect character to open the show with a patriotic turned spicy number. The woos and cheers continued as Iron (Wo)Man took to the stage for a Magic Mike meets Marvel hip hop-inspired performance complete with ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine as its expected, but welcomed soundtrack.

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The sexualisation of the characters was shared around; Black Widow gracefully defeated her attackers through the art of ballet, sacrificing the bulk of her superhero suit along the way, but nonetheless, even the undergarments were on theme.

I began to tick off appearances from the original Avengers team and awaited what I presumed would be a performance from a Hemsworth-esque Thor. I was happily wrong. Instead, a worthy (if you know, you know) aerial artist depicting Lady Thor took to the skies with the help of her magical hammer.

Deadpool returned, this time breaking into a remixed duet from Hamilton. For musical theatre fans, the show’s creators did an impressive job twisting Lin-Manuel Miranda’s well-known rapping into the superhero storyline.

It wasn’t the only Broadway reference, and as the stage lights turned green we knew what was coming: brothers — or sisters in this case — Loki and Thor paired up to perform a rendition from Wicked, and Loki did not disappoint. With the best live vocals of the night, the goddess of mischief hit the famous riff and cheers filled the room before she had time to finish the note.

Spider-Man also had his moment to shine, incorporating his spidey-moves into an aerial straps routine (and no, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, you will see triple…).

The hour was nearly at an end and I grew concerned for a particular angry, green man. While a few members of the original Avengers squad might have been missing in action, those that were assembled kept us laughing, cheering, or clasping hands over mouths in shocked smiles.

The cocktail of artistic skill, crude humour and catchy tunes made for a light-hearted and enjoyable evening, with accurate costumes, set design and a few niche film references to keep even the most jaded Marvel fans happy. A lack of prior knowledge of the Marvel universe won’t hinder the experience, however, being clued up on the films (or comics) would certainly boost your enjoyment. 

It’s worth reiterating, just in case you miss the multiple eggplant emojis and an MA15+ classification on the website, this one is not for the kids!