Marvel Comics has been a massive success in the past decade on the big and small screen, enrapturing audiences with its characters and poignant stories. It only makes sense that fans would eventually see a stage interpretation. “Marvel Universe Live!” is not your typical stage show, however, and focuses on spectacle over narrative.

“Marvel Unlimited Live!,” Oct. 15 - 18, PPL Center, Allentown, was a stunt show aimed primarily at children.

The first-ever live Marvel tour made its 85-city debut in July in Tampa, Fla., followed by the first leg of its North American tour with stops in Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Nashville, Miami and Atlanta. Upcoming shows included Nov. 28 and 29, Giant Center, Hershey.

The show features a cast of actors playing characters familiar to those who have seen the films. Iron Man and Spider-Man are the main characters, relying heavily on charisma and wit to elicit some easy laughs and move the plot forward.

Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Black Widow, Falcon, Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Hawkeye are featured as they battle Loki and his cronies. Captain Marvel is the only superhero who should be new to audiences. It’s a good introduction to the character, who will be featured in her own film in 2019.

While including familiar faces is all well and fine, it felt like Marvel missed an opportunity to include some of the other characters movie-goers and TV viewers have yet to be introduced to. Additionally, having so many characters on stage meant that some of them had minimal stage time. The role of Falcon, in particular, felt like a wasted opportunity, as he never flies across the stage or has wings, even though other characters soared frequently.

The villains were also lacking. Loki and Red Skull are great villains and interesting in terms of character design, but Aldrich Killian, a man in a suit who has a serum in his blood, felt rather tame in comparison.

All of the fights were clearly fake, with punches and kicks thrown visually wide of their targets. Some of the characters looked downright silly, with the Lizard’s mouth not having appropriate mechanisms to make it move, forcing the actor to shake his head up and down to simulate talking.

There was no problem hearing the characters, though. The dialogue was prerecorded by voice actors who portray the characters in the animated TV shows and was easily recognizable by youths in the audience.

The stunts ranged from motorcycle jumps, to tricks to some particularly loud explosions, with bursts of flames and large set pieces gracing the stage in succession. While it was obvious that the actors were at no point in peril, children in the audience shouted out to the characters to “Watch out,” cheering them on, convinced of the spectacle around them. Some of the set pieces were enthralling to watch play out, regardless of how aware I was of what was occurring.

At first, all of this may sound not entirely positive, but none of the children sitting around me at the show noticed or minded, seemingly fulfilled by the exciting scenes and seeing their favorite heroes do battle with some of Marvel’s most notorious villains.

I’ll be the first to admit that I found myself laughing along and enjoying every second of the show. The campy silliness kept me entertained throughout. Some of the stunts surprised me.

The show is intended for children, but that doesn’t mean adults can’t enjoy it. If your children are a fan of the films or characters, you owe it to them to take them to see “Marvel Unlimited Live!” And who knows, maybe you’ll feel a bit of the Marvel magic that will make you feel like a child again.