‘What a downgrade’: Wait, did Marvel just confirm the new owners of Avengers Tower and why is it kinda disappointing?

Everybody is aware of the scope, prominence, and struggles of the Marvel Cinematic Universe these days, but very few people know it by its more colloquial name; the Marvel Plot Thread Universe.

Indeed, in its hyperfixation on continuity, canon, and setup, there have been a lot of events in the MCU that have either gone unacknowledged in a way that doesn’t make any sense (see: Tiamut), or never developed beyond their setup. It would be a far more frustrating vice if it wasn’t so trivial, and as far as the problems caused by Marvel’s narrative pivots go, loose threads are down near the bottom of the list.

Still, there’s satisfaction to be had when one finally gets wrapped up, even the answer is a bit underwhelming from a worldbuilding perspective.

Indeed, the eagle-eyed elites of the MCU fandom have most recently turned their attention to the new Thunderbolts* trailer, and from that, they’ve extrapolated a pretty strong clue that points towards Valentina Allegra du Fontaine being the new owner of Avenger Tower. This coming from realizations that the building the Thunderbolts appear to be assembling in looks remarkably similar to the old Avengers digs.

We’ve known for some time now that Tony Stark had sold Avengers Tower for the sake of relocating everyone to the Avengers Compound, but between speculations of Norman Osborn and the Kingpin, the real answer has been under lock and key. Now, however, it seems that Avengers Tower was seized by the CIA through Valentina.

Now, as noted in the tweet above, it’s entirely possible that Valentina just hijacked the empty building for the sake of running her Thunderbolts operation for the time being, and a post-credits scene could reveal the true new owner of Avengers Tower; an owner we’ve perhaps not seen before in this franchise, and could therefore be the focal point of new adventures with new characters.

But it’s also entirely possible that Valentina is, actually, the one who bought Avengers Tower, and that development would be no less interesting. It’s one thing to have the highest of all power positions in the CIA, but in occupying Avengers Tower (presumably with the intent of keeping the Thunderbolts in it), Valentina has her hands on a much more public, feet-on-the-ground enterprise that could completely change the atmosphere of New York City. Where Iron Man, Captain America and company once looked over the city as symbols of hope, the Thunderbolts now occupy that position as symbols of power and control.

And make no mistake; that could change quite a lot about this world. How might heroes like Spider-Man and Kate Bishop operate in a city with an overarching precedent like that? How might Kingpin and others contest with the possibility of a power vacuum if they don’t ramp up their operations? Indeed, Valentina may not be a shiny new character for fans to latch onto, but her movement in this canon is anything but uninteresting, and we’ll see exactly what comes of that movement when Thunderbolts* hits theaters on May 2, 2025.