Last week while walking through the Gaslamp District outside of San Diego Comic Con 2019, I found myself heading into the immersive experience titled ‘Stan Lee’s Alliance: A Trick of Light,’ presented by Audible.com. They tout the project as one of Stan Lee’s very last before he passed away, and is the story of a new superhero named Cameron who gets superpowers after sailing into a lightning storm. His main powers include the ability to hack into any system using his mind, making him a hero for the digital age. The entire experience is narrated by Yara Shahidi (‘Grownish’), who at one point, in character, comments that Cameron’s powers are “…the nerdiest super-power I’ve ever heard of in my life.” However, the experience promised a real depth to the tale of Cameron and his journey into a heroic life, with attendees invited to head inside, though the maze of glowing red rubber cords, and step into each pod station (or Chevron), and once they step into place, hear Yara narrate more of Cameron’s story, from his first experiences using his powers and his friends reactions, to some of the challenges he faces early on. The surreal experience ends with attendees walking down a long hallway to the exit, where Stan Lee himself does a bit of narration, ending with the following statement:

“What is more real? The world we are born into or the one we create ourselves?”

As a tribute to Stan Lee’s final work the experience definitely proved to be something special, from the moment you stepped into line and were vetted by the lab-coated workers who stayed in character the entire time, to the first room where Yara begins the narration and the walls reveal a vista of glowing lights, storm clouds, and lightning, even to receiving some fairly cool sun-glasses from the experience, which I was asked a number of times by other Comic Con attendees where the sunglasses came from. Check out my photos from the event below, and make sure to check out ‘Stan Lee’s Alliances: A Trick of Light’ at Audible.com.