Blackpool Tower gets an Iron Man-inspired Marvel makeover. Photo courtesy Madame Tussauds

Known as a national icon, it’s been announced that The Blackpool Tower has changed its name to Stark Tower to honour Marvel Super Hero Iron Man – a move that surprised residents of the seaside town.

Stark Tower is of course the home of one of the most popular Avengers characters, Tony Stark, and is located in New York in the blockbusting films.

Photo courtesy Madame Tussauds

Glittering lights were spotted high up above the Comedy Carpet, spelling out its new name to celebrate the arrival of Tony Stark’s Iron Man wax figure at Madame Tussauds Blackpool.

Matthew Titherington, general manager at Madame Tussauds Blackpool, said: “This is a real statement to welcome our latest super hero to the town. The Blackpool Tower has had the same name for almost 125 years so we thought it was time for a change.”

Iron Man will be taking his pride of place amongst his Avenger co-stars and other Marvel favourites – Thor, Rocket, Groot, Spider-Man and Hulk in the newly-opened Marvel Super Heroes area we reported on earlier this year.

Visitors will be able to get up close and personal with Iron Man, wearing his signature protective gear and an interactive moving visor, flying through the air with him.

“We were delighted that The Blackpool Tower was renamed Stark Tower as Iron Man is such an iconic character and having him here in Blackpool is great for the town,” says Kenny Mew from The Blackpool Tower. ” However, it will return to its original name of The Blackpool Tower before long.”

Smash! Pow! It’s Fantastic Summer Special. Image courtesy Lew Stringer

The change of name shouldn’t really come as a surprise to Blackpool residents – after all, Marvel has been playing fast and loose with Blackpool (and other British landmarks) for decades. Back in 1968, the Smash! Pow! It’s Fantastic Summer Special featured Blackpool Tower on its cover, the details of that comic detailed here on Lew Stringer’s Blimey! blog.

Marvel Super Heroes is part of the main Madame Tussauds Blackpool attraction and is included in the ticket price, starting from £13.50 for children and £18.00 for adults (additional 20% discount available when tickets are booked online).

• For more information, or to by advance tickets visit www.madametussauds.com/blackpool/en

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Explorer (previously known as Star Trek Magazine) and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of "Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies" for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Tags: downthetubes News, Iron Man, Madame Tussauds Blackpool, Marvel Super Heroes, The Blackpool Tower