The Avengers Tower Has A New Name In Marvel’s Thunderbolts Movie

In 2012, the world was not only introduced to the Avengers of the Marvel Cinematic Universe but also their headquarters. The Manhattan high rise, once known as Stark Tower, was thereafter referred to as Avengers Tower. By the end of “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” however, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) had retrofitted one of his company’s warehouses into the compound that housed Earth’s Mightiest Heroes on through to “Avengers: Endgame.” But what happened to the Avengers’ original base after it was shuttered?

Turns out, it went on the market and Julia-Louis Dreyfus’ shady Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine was the lucky buyer. All of the promotional material for Marvel’s upcoming antihero team up “Thunderbolts*” suggests both Fontaine and the titular crew will be spending a lot of time in the film in the newly renovated Avengers Tower. Now, thanks to Empirewe’ve learned that Fontaine has given the building a new name, and it’s an ominous one: the Watchtower.

Speaking to Empire, “Thunderbolts*” director Jake Schreier also hinted that the tower’s change in ownership signals a darker future ahead:

“We know what that tower means (…) teasing a portent of things to come. Who’s the person you would least like to own that tower, that means so much to so many people? Can you use that as a symbol of things taking a darker turn?”

To be sure, when it was occupied by the Avengers, the tower stood above New York City as a beacon of hope, assuring the masses that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes were watching over them. In their absence, however, it now falls to the Thunderbolts (a group composed of assassins, soldiers, and more) to construct their own legacy.

Anyone who’s ever watched a single MCU movie knows that Stark didn’t always make the best decisions in life. At the same time, you knew, at the very least, his actions were an effort on his part to both answer for his destructive past with Stark Industries and uphold his image as Iron Man. In the same way, Avengers Tower physically represented the idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) brought Tony all the way back in 2008.

Fontaine, on the other hand, has a much different agenda in mind in the wake of the Avengers Compound being destroyed (and the notion of the original Avengers with it). Ever since her inaugural MCU appearance in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” it’s been difficult to tell if Fontaine is ultimately more of a force for good or evil. So far, all the character has really proven is that her interests lie with flawed individuals she can control and manipulate, including Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Red Guardian (David Harbour), U.S. Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), and Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen).

So far, it appears Fontaine is essentially the MCU’s answer to Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller in the DC Universe — a shady government official who gathers a bunch of violent, traumatized outcasts to fight “for the greater good” on her terms (a la the Suicide Squad). A name like the Watchtower certainly paints a picture of eagle-eyed surveillance, but surely we’re being too hard on Fontaine … right? Only will tell whether her own superhero team proves to be a rougher, darker version of the Avengers or something far more sinister.

“Thunderbolts*” will make its way into theaters on May 2, 2025.