After seven years, theMarvel Cinematic Universehas finally revealed who is the new owner of Avengers Tower inThunderbolts*’s first trailer. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes have been absent for quite some time, withthe team not being active in the MCU since 2019’sAvengers: Endgame. That accounts for both the Avengers not appearing in movies, as well as for the team not having any missions in the background, asCaptain America: Brave New World’s trailers featureThunderbolt Ross asking Sam Wilson to restart the Avengers.
One of the MCU’s biggest mysteries has been related to the superhero team that is the source of some of theMCU’s best movies. After it was revealed thatTony Stark sold it, Marvel spent many years keeping the identity of Avengers Tower’s new buyer a secret. The MCU team relocated to the Avengers Compound, leaving their first and most iconic home to an uncertain fate. However, thefirst trailer for 2025’sThunderbolts*has finally revealed who bought Avengers Tower, and the answer is sure to bring even more questions.
Marvel Has Failed To Answer The Avengers Tower Mystery Since 2017
A Spider-Man Movie Revealed Avengers Tower’s Fate
The MCU’s first Avengers HQ started as one of the many buildings owned by Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. Iron Man wanted to make Stark Tower a poster for clean energy-powered buildings in the New York City skyline. AfterThe Avengers' Battle of New York, which prominently featured Stark Tower, the building would undergo an essential transformation. With Earth’s Mightiest Heroes now assembled, the next of theMCU’s Avengers movies, 2015’sAvengers: Age of Ultron, would bring the team to its new headquarters,rebranded from Stark Tower to Avengers Tower.
Spider-Man: Homecoming revealed that Tony Stark was in the process of selling Avengers Tower, with Happy Hogan being in charge of moving equipment and the Vulture attempting to steal it.
Despite it becoming a marquee of the MCU and the NYC skyline, Avengers Tower would be short-lived. 2017’sSpider-Man: Homecomingrevealed that Tony Stark was in the process of selling Avengers Tower, with Happy Hogan being in charge of moving equipment and the Vulture attempting to steal it.Pre-Blip, Avengers Tower still retained the team’s “A,“which would be gone by 2024 in-universe, as the post-BlipSpider-Man: Far From Home, which was released in 2019, featured a new look at the building, which was undergoing renovations.
Thunderbolts* First Trailer Finally Reveals Who Bought Avengers Tower
The Iconic Location Is Now In New Hands
After seven years of mystery, the buyer — or one of the buyers — of Avengers Tower has been revealed.Thunderbolts*’s new trailer takes its time to show which characters will be part of the darker MCU team, with anti-heroes like US Agent, Yelena Belova, and Ghost slowly coming together. Some of the team, including Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, goes to meet Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. The meeting takes place in what appears to be Avengers Tower, as the interior of the building looks like a match for the iconic location,revealing that Valentina took over the former Avengers HQ.
Speaking withComicBook.comin July,Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was asked whether he knew who bought Avengers Tower, if the answer was the same as before, following many MCU changes, and if fans would know the answer to the long-running mystery soon. Feige was direct, saying, “Yes. Yes, and yes.” The new trailer for the 2025 MCU film confirmed that the answer was really coming soon, withMarvel Studios’Thunderbolts*likely to explore what it means for Valentina to be the one seemingly in charge of Avengers Tower, a reveal that creates more questions.
Who Exactly Is Valentina Working For?
Owning Avengers Tower Is No Small Feat
Buying Avengers Tower from Tony Stark is not something anyone could do. However, Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine is not just anyone. Her appearance inBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverconfirmed thatValentina is simply the Director of the CIA in the MCU. That should have helped her in convincing Tony Stark that she was a respectable person to sell Avengers Tower to. However, judging by how Valentina has slowly been assembling the Thunderbolts and the dark tone of the team movie’s first trailer, it seems like she might have some morally questionable motives.
Bob (Rumored to be Sentry)
Geraldine Viswanathan
Unconfirmed
Those motives could be bankrolled by a benefactor. While Valentina should be wealthy due to her CIA position, she could have someone above her that makes something like buying Avengers Tower easy. Valentina’s high-ranking position could serve as the perfect cover for some nefarious plans. In Marvel Comics, the character once infiltrated SHIELD and Hydra before it was revealed thatValentina was working for a terrorist organization called Leviathan. The organization’s leader is Vasili Dassaiev, aka Magadan, who could be working with Valentina in the shadows. Whether Valentina is scheming with someone or alone should be revealed inThunderbolts*.
Thunderbolts*
Cast
Thunderbolts follows seven disillusioned individuals who find themselves trapped in a perilous situation. Tasked with a daunting mission, they must face the most shadowy aspects of their histories in order to survive and achieve their goals.
