Did the ‘Thunderbolts*’ trailer solve the mystery surrounding one of the MCU’s biggest landmarks?
The first official teaser for Thunderbolts* has arrived, and it may hold the answer to a years-long mystery involving Avengers Tower.
Thunderbolts* has been a few years in the making. Across several Marvel Cinematic Universe films, viewers noticed Valentina “Val” Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a shadowy CIA agent, appeared to be assembling a superhero team. In particular, she seemed to be recruiting individuals with shady pasts as she approached John Walker (Wyatt Russell) and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) with her offers.
Meanwhile, in a short period of time, she worked her way from a background character to the director of the CIA. In Thunderbolts*, it appears she has successfully formed a full-fledged team of anti-heroes, although their mission and purpose remain obscure. Although the trailer doesn’t divulge specifics about the plot, it does include one major detail that could end an MCU mystery and hint at the cinematic universe’s future.
Thunderbolts* hints at Avenger Tower’s new owner
For years, the MCU has remained tight-lipped about who owns Avengers Tower. The tower was originally called Stark Tower, as it was built and owned by Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). However, the tower sustained extensive damage in The Avengers after Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) attack on New York. At that point, Stark decided to refurbish the building and transform it into Avengers Tower, which would serve as the superhero team’s headquarters.
The tower served as the Avengers’ headquarters until Spider-Man: Homecoming, when Stark revealed he had sold Avengers Tower and moved the team and their belongings to a new base. While the new owners appeared to refurbish the building, they chose to keep the Avengers logo at the top. The only problem is that, for seven years, the MCU has failed to reveal who bought Avengers Tower and for what purpose they bought it. After the Thunderbolts* trailer, though, some viewers believe they know who owns it.
Around the 2:50 mark in the trailer, the team appears to be inside Avengers Tower. The familiar elevator and angled floor-to-ceiling windows that look out on the New York City skyline strongly suggest that viewers are looking at the interior of the tower. Meanwhile, Val soon enters the room, revealing she’s the one who gathered them there. Since she’s seemingly utilizing the Avengers Tower for her team, it’s easy to assume she or the CIA now owns the tower.
It’s also possible that someone higher up than Val owns the building and is letting her utilize it. However, buying the Avengers Tower on the down-low fits well with Val’s mysterious nature and swift rise to power. Whether Val is the true owner or not, the appearance of the building itself is still significant for Thunderbolts*.
Given the asterisk in the title, many suspect that the movie will do more than form the Thunderbolts team. Fans anticipate that the movie will actually end up debuting a new Avengers team, such as the Dark Avengers, New Avengers, or Young Avengers. The anti-hero team now occupying Avengers Tower adds weight to the theory that Val’s—or perhaps her boss’s—real end goal is to debut a new Avengers lineup.
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