Marvel and Disney Plus are giving fans a closer look at Madripoor, a fictional country within the expansive cinematic universe that was most recently revealed as one of the settings in episode three of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, thanks to a new mock tourism website. Comic book fans became aware of the Explore Madripoor site as banner ads began to appear across websites affiliated with Marvel.
Spoiler alert: Baron Zemo leads Sam (Falcon) and Bucky (Winter Soldier) to the island ruled by the villainous Power Broker, in search of information on the supplier of the super-soldier serum. As viewers will learn, Madripoor appears to have a lively nightlife and club scene.
In an interview with Marvel.com, series director Kari Skogland shared, “We wanted to give Madripoor its own individual idea space, signature place. I wanted it to be somewhere both exotic and a bit familiar but off-grid; to have a real street feel but be quite colorful and eye-popping.”
The island is modeled after Singapore; both affluent maritime Asian nations. It first appeared in the comics in 1985’s New Mutants. Since then, it has featured heavily in the X-Men franchise. According to Games Radar, when the site initially launched, there were a handful of Easter eggs with direct references to X-Men characters like Mystique, Daken, and Krakoa, potentially signaling a connection to future releases. But these have since been removed. There was reportedly also a nod to Shang-Chi, a Marvel movie currently scheduled for a September 2021 release.
However, there are several other treats to satisfy Falcon and the Winter Soldier fans. Tech Radar reports that “wanted” posters of the titular characters, as well as Zemo, are hidden on the site, in addition to downloadable desktop and mobile phone wallpapers. Previously unseen footage of the three making their escape from a band of Madripoor criminals is also available. To access these features, use the passwords “powerbroker” in the Buccaneer Bay Area and “sharoncarter” on the Hightown Nightclub page.
The site comes on the heels of news that the Avengers Campus is set to open at the Disneyland Resort, inside Disney California Adventure Park starting from June 4, 2021.
Visit Explore Madripoor to unlock the new features.