Avengers Mansion

The New Avengers moving into Avengers Mansion.
New Avengers vol. 2, #1 (August 2010). Art by Stuart Immonen.
Notable locations New York City
Notable characters Iron Man
Avengers
New Avengers
Uncanny Avengers
First appearance Avengers (vol.1) #2 (November 1963)
Publisher Marvel Comics
The Henry Clay Frick House on 5th Avenue was the inspiration to the Avengers Mansion

Avengers Mansion is a fictional building appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. It has traditionally been the base of the Avengers. The enormous, city block-sized building is located at 890 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City.

Creative origin

According to Stan Lee, who co-created the Avengers:[1][2]

There was a mansion called the Frick Museum that I used to walk past. I sort of modeled it after that. Beautiful, big, so impressive building, right on Fifth Avenue.

Lee later recounted, "I can't tell you how many fan letters I would receive from kids saying, 'We came to New York and we were looking for the Stark mansion and couldn't find it. What address is it?' [laughs] So that made me feel good. I felt we had accomplished our objective. We had made it seem realistic."[3] In real life, 890 Fifth Avenue is 1 East 70th Street, the location of the Henry Clay Frick House, which houses the Frick Collection. The building is, like Avengers Mansion, a city block-sized mansion.

Fictional history and layout

When occupied, the mansion was originally the Stark family manor, until their only son, Tony Stark, inherited their fortune and soon took on the guise of Iron Man. He donated the mansion to the Avengers and had it financed through the charitable Maria Stark Foundation. It was primarily looked after by the Stark family butler, Edwin Jarvis, who not only took care of the mansion but also catered to the needs of the Avengers team. It served as a place to plan and strategize and a home for Avengers members when they needed it.

It had three above-ground floors and three basement floors. The first three floors were open to the public and had twelve rooms to house Avengers who wished to reside in the mansion, as well as Jarvis's quarters. A portion of the mansion's third floor served as a hangar for the Avengers' quinjets, their primary mode of transportation.

The three floors below ground were restricted from the public and had modified rooms for the Avengers' needs. Such rooms below ground were: Howard Stark's "Arsenal" chamber, the Avengers gym, Hawkeye's test-shooting room, the training room (much like the X-Mansion's Danger Room), the cryogenic storage area, a vault to contain Jack of Hearts's power, and the ultra-secure assembly room.

The Fantastic Four took up temporary residence at Avengers Mansion after their headquarters (the original Baxter Building) was destroyed.[4]

The mansion has been destroyed twice. The first time was in Avengers: Under Siege when a huge grouping of Masters of Evil, led by Baron Helmut Zemo, attacked the Avengers and destroyed the Mansion and beat Hercules into a coma among other things before being repulsed.

In the immediate aftermath, the Avengers would relocate to a floating platform called Hydro-Base,[5] while the former Mansion site became known as "Avengers Park", and was unused. Hydro-Base was later destroyed as well.[6]

The Mansion would be featured in a Damage Control story. The reconstruction firm was hired to refit and rebuild the mansion, a task they accomplished easily. Unfortunately they did not manage to move it as easily and it fell into one of New York's rivers.

Later, the Avengers built a new headquarters on the site of the Mansion and resided there until it was destroyed by the Gatherers, a team of alternate universe Avengers. Ute, a Watcher enslaved by the villain Proctor, brought an alternate reality version of the original Avengers Mansion to the site as a dying gift.

This replacement Mansion would survive various assaults until, in the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline, the Scarlet Witch was responsible for its destruction by bringing an undead version of Jack of Hearts that exploded, also killing Scott Lang, the second Ant-Man, and in Avengers Finale (January 2005), Stark decided that with his dwindling assets, he could no longer afford to maintain the building and it was abandoned in its derelict state, left as a memorial to the Avengers who had died. Stark, using his considerable political and social influence, had the grounds declared a landmark by the city of New York. Since then, the Young Avengers have restored much of the statuary on the grounds of the mansion. The Avengers have relocated to Stark Tower, although it is unknown how permanent this move will be, especially in light of the events of Marvel's Civil War storyline, which causes the virtual splitting of the New Avengers down the line between those who were pro-registration and those who were against it.

Even after its destruction, the mansion remains a hub of superhuman activity. The Young Avengers were attacked by, and later defeated, Kang the Conqueror there. They later restored the many statues in the mansion's grounds, adopting the mansion as their meeting place.

During the highest tensions of the Civil War incident, Iron Man and Captain America meet at the ruins in order to talk things out. They tour the grounds and even find abandoned framed photographs of old allies.

Former Avenger Clint Barton has made his way on to the grounds several times since then, most recently following Captain America's death. He meets with Tony Stark to discuss the implications of Steve Rogers' assassination.

After the Skrull invasion, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s replacement agency H.A.M.M.E.R. kept an eye on the mansion in case the Young Avengers, still wanted for refusing to be registered, showed up. The young group did anyway, using the building as a central point for many meetings.[7]

Following the Siege of Asgard and at the start of the Heroic Age, Steve Rogers and Tony Stark sold the mansion to Luke Cage for a dollar allowing him freedom to recruit his own Avengers team and operate from the mansion while the other Avengers team operate from the Infinite Avengers Mansion and Avengers Tower.[8] After an extended period, and severe damage thanks to Daniel Drumm the New Avengers dissolve, and Cage sells the mansion back to Stark for five dollars.[9]

After yet another roster reshuffling, the mansion is refitted as the headquarters for the new Avengers Unity Squad which is funded by Janet Van Dyne. A computerized A.I. system called J.A.R.V.I.S. is installed to replace Edwin Jarvis (who still lives in Avengers Tower with the main team).[10]

Following the reconstruction of the multiverse, the mansion has officially become a theme hotel as the Avengers teams move on to other bases, but they are unaware that the Red Skull and Sin are hiding in a secure room under the mansion, carrying out an unspecified plan.[11]

Surrounding grounds

The Mansion was surrounded by a wall twelve feet high and one foot thick, as well as an array of high-tech security defenses. A main feature of the defenses were large, restrictive coils. These were sometimes backed up by energy beams that shot out from the ground. Nonetheless, those defenses were often breached by the supervillains faced by the Avengers. Shortly after the Avengers moved into the Mansion, Iron Man and Thor moved the Mansion 35 feet away from the street, increasing the size of the front lawn and giving the Avengers more privacy.

When Tony Stark was the United States' Secretary of Defense, the mansion's security systems were backed up by government forces.

The mansion's grounds featured an array of statues of past and present Avengers, constructed out of adamantium. The statues were destroyed in a battle with the Asgardian god, Loki.[12] One of the trees on the grounds used to hold a miniature lab belonging to Hank Pym. The statues return around the time the 'New Avengers' leave the mansion.

Avengers support crew

Infinite Avengers Mansion

The Infinite Avengers Mansion was created by Hank Pym in the pocket dimension where Thor sent Janet Van Dyne's body at the end of Secret Invasion. It was the headquarters of Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers and was home to the Avengers Academy.

In other media

Television

Video games

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hermann, Molly (2004-08-15). "Marvel Superheroes Guide To New York City". 11:48-13:12 minutes in. Discovery Channel. Retrieved 2013-11-10. There was a mansion called the Frick Museum that I used to walk past. I sort of modeled it after that. Beautiful, big, so impressive building, right on Fifth Avenue. Missing or empty |series= (help)
  2. ↑ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York: Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1416531418.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Roy (August 2011). "Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Interview!". Alter Ego (TwoMorrows Publishing) (104): 9.
  4. ↑ Fantastic Four #282 (Sept. 1985).
  5. ↑ "Avengers" #278 (April 1987)
  6. ↑ "Avengers" #311 (Dec. 1989)
  7. ↑ The Mighty Avengers #21-30
  8. ↑ New Avengers (vol. 2) #1
  9. ↑ New Avengers (vol. 2) #34
  10. ↑ Uncanny Avengers #5
  11. ↑ Uncanny Avengers vol.2 #6
  12. ↑ Avengers #400
  13. 1 2 3 4 Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #260
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Avengers #300
  15. ↑ Avengers #32
  16. 1 2 3 Avengers #311
  17. ↑ Marvel: Heroes & Legends '97
  18. 1 2 Avengers West Coast #89
  19. ↑ Incredible Hulk #6
  20. ↑ Avengers West Coast #77
  21. 1 2 Avengers West Coast #63
  22. ↑ The Avengers #46
  23. ↑ Marvel Feature #9
  24. ↑ Avengers #329
  25. ↑ Avengers vol. 3 #4
  26. ↑ Avengers vol. 3 #49
  27. ↑ Tales of Suspense #59
  28. ↑ Secret Invasion #1
  29. ↑ West Coast Avengers #45
  30. 1 2 Avengers #190
  31. 1 2 West Coast Avengers #46
  32. ↑ Captain America #354
  33. ↑ Avengers Annual '99 (July 1999)
  34. 1 2 3 Avengers Annual #19
  35. ↑ Avengers #30
  36. ↑ Avengers vol. 3 #61
  37. ↑ Avengers #29
  38. ↑ US Agent #1
  39. ↑ West Coast Avengers #43
  40. ↑ Avengers #165
  41. 1 2 Avengers: The Initiative #1
  42. ↑ Avengers #14
  43. ↑ New Warriors #72
  44. ↑ Avengers #378
  45. ↑ Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1
  46. ↑ Avengers #17
  47. 1 2 Avengers #56
  48. ↑ West Coast Avengers #12
  49. ↑ Captain America #358
  50. ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #1
  51. 1 2 Avengers #302
  52. 1 2 Captain Marvel #51
  53. ↑ Captain America #353
  54. ↑ Avengers West Coast #47
  55. ↑ Avengers #343
  56. ↑ Avengers #270
  57. ↑ Avengers #301
  58. ↑ Avengers #227
  59. ↑ Avengers #314
  60. ↑ Avengers West Coast #58
  61. ↑ Avengers #235
  62. ↑ Solo Avengers #12
  63. ↑ Avengers #13
  64. ↑ Avengers #6
  65. 1 2 Avengers #1
  66. ↑ West Coast Avengers #40
  67. ↑ Captain America #409
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