(Image: The Northern Echo)
Long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe and streaming fame, two stars of Disney Plus's latest series were taking to the stage in Darlington.
New Marvel show Vision Quest features comedy performers Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer among its cast, placing the pair alongside stars including Paul Bettany and James Spader.
For Darlington audiences, their route to Marvel began much closer to home.
More than a decade ago, they appeared at Darlington's Civic Theatre while touring The Play That Goes Wrong - years before it became one of British theatre's biggest hits.
Lewis and Sayer are now best known as key figures behind Mischief Theatre, whose comedy hits have drawn audiences worldwide.
Their breakthrough came with The Play That Goes Wrong, about an amateur dramatic society staging a murder mystery as everything falls apart around it.
Its physical comedy, choreographed disasters and quick-fire humour turned the touring show into an international hit.
Following its success, Mischief Theatre expanded into television and new stage productions, with titles including Peter Pan Goes Wrong, A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, The Goes Wrong Show and Magic Goes Wrong helping build a devoted following.
While their work is now recognised across the UK and beyond, Darlington theatre-goers had the chance to see the pair much earlier in that journey when The Play That Goes Wrong visited the town in 2014.
The appearance came before the production secured its status as a West End mainstay and long before either performer became attached to a Marvel project.
Now in Vision Quest, Lewis plays Tony Stark's robotic assistant D.U.M.-E., while Sayer portrays fellow workshop robot U.
Both characters appear as human avatars within Vision's mysterious "Mindspace" as the android Avenger searches for answers about his past
The cast also includes Ruaridh Mollica, Todd Stashwick, Emily Hampshire, James D'Arcy, Ben Crompton and T'Nia Miller.
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Vision Quest premiered on Disney Plus on October 13 with its first two episodes.
The eight-part series is being released across five weeks.
Episodes three and four arrive on October 20, episodes five and six on October 27, episode seven on November 3 and the finale on November 10.