Avengers Mansion

"Stark Mansion" redirects here. For the historic Missouri home, see Gov. Lloyd Crow Stark House and Carriage House.
Avengers Mansion
The New Avengers moving into Avengers Mansion in New Avengers (vol. 2) #1
(August 2010).
Art by Stuart Immonen.
First appearanceThe Avengers #2
(November 1963)
Created byStan Lee
Jack Kirby
In-universe information
Other name(s)Avengers Embassy
TypeResidence
LocationUnited States, New York City
CharactersIron Man
Captain America
Hulk
Hank Pym
Thor Odinson
Carol Danvers
Black Panther
Vision
Scarlet Witch
Avengers
New Avengers
Uncanny Avengers
PublisherMarvel Comics
The Henry Clay Frick House on 5th Avenue was the inspiration for 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.[1]

Creative origin

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Avengers Mansion's address is 890 Fifth Avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City.[2] According to Stan Lee, who co-created the Avengers:[3][4]

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."[5] 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 Frick House also occupies the width of a full city block.[6]

Fictional history and layout

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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.[7]

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.[8]

In the immediate aftermath, the Avengers would relocate to a floating platform called Hydro-Base,[9] while the former Mansion site became known as "Avengers Park", and was unused. Hydro-Base was later destroyed as well.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13]

After yet another roster reshuffling, the mansion was 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).[14]

Following the reconstruction of the multiverse, the mansion officially became a theme hotel as the Avengers teams move on to other bases, but they were unaware that the Red Skull and Sin are hiding in a secure room under the mansion, carrying out an unspecified plan.[15] After this, the mansion was purchased by Unity Squad member Johnny Storm with the money he had inherited from his apparently dead brother-in-law's patents, who created Avengers Mansion Inc. to run the property on behalf of the Avengers.

Surrounding grounds

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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.[16] 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

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Reception

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Accolades

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  • In 2019, CBR.com ranked the Avengers Mansion 3rd in their "10 Most Iconic Superhero Hideouts In Marvel Comics" list.[72]
  • In 2020, CBR.com ranked the Avengers Mansion 1st in their "Avengers 10 Best Headquarters" list.[73]
  • In 2022, CBR.com ranked the Avengers Mansion 3rd in their "9 Coolest Training Facilities In Marvel Comics" list.[74]

Infinite Avengers Mansion

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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.[75] It was the headquarters of Hank Pym's Mighty Avengers and was home to the Avengers Academy.

In other media

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Television

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Video games

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Barron, James (2018-11-14). "Where Stan Lee's Fictional Superheroes Lived in the Real New York". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  2. ^ Nelson, Randy (2014-04-02). "You'll Need To Assemble $113M To Buy Captain America's Avengers Mansion". Movoto. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  3. ^ Hermann, Molly (2004-08-15). Marvel Superheroes Guide To New York City. Discovery Channel. 11:48-13:12 minutes in. 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.
  4. ^ Sanderson, Peter (2007). The Marvel Comics Guide to New York City. New York: Gallery Books. ISBN 978-1416531418.
  5. ^ Thomas, Roy (August 2011). "Stan Lee's Amazing Marvel Interview!". Alter Ego (#104). TwoMorrows Publishing: 9.
  6. ^ Gray, Christopher (April 2, 2000). "Streetscapes/The Frick Mansion; Carnegie vs. Frick: Dueling Egos on Fifth Avenue". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  7. ^ Fantastic Four #282 (September 1985).
  8. ^ "4 Times Avengers HQ Was Destroyed".
  9. ^ "Avengers" #278 (April 1987)
  10. ^ The Avengers #311 (December 1989)
  11. ^ The Mighty Avengers #21-30
  12. ^ New Avengers (vol. 2) #1
  13. ^ New Avengers (vol. 2) #34
  14. ^ Uncanny Avengers #5
  15. ^ Uncanny Avengers (vol. 2) #6
  16. ^ The Avengers #400
  17. ^ a b c d The Incredible Hulk (vol. 2) #260
  18. ^ a b c d e f The Avengers #300
  19. ^ The Avengers #32
  20. ^ a b c The Avengers #311
  21. ^ Marvel: Heroes & Legends '97
  22. ^ a b Avengers West Coast #89
  23. ^ The Incredible Hulk #6
  24. ^ Avengers West Coast #77
  25. ^ a b Avengers West Coast #63
  26. ^ The Avengers #46
  27. ^ Marvel Feature #9
  28. ^ The Avengers #329
  29. ^ The Avengers (vol. 3) #4
  30. ^ The Avengers (vol. 3) #49
  31. ^ Tales of Suspense #59
  32. ^ Secret Invasion #1
  33. ^ West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #45
  34. ^ a b The Avengers #190
  35. ^ a b West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #46
  36. ^ Captain America #354
  37. ^ The Avengers (vol. 2) Annual '99 (July 1999)
  38. ^ a b c The Avengers Annual #19
  39. ^ The Avengers #30
  40. ^ The Avengers (vol. 3) #61
  41. ^ The Avengers #29
  42. ^ US Agent #1
  43. ^ West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #43
  44. ^ The Avengers #165
  45. ^ Avengers: The Initiative #1
  46. ^ The Avengers #14
  47. ^ The New Warriors #72
  48. ^ Avengers #378
  49. ^ Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes #1
  50. ^ The Avengers #17
  51. ^ a b The Avengers #56
  52. ^ West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #12
  53. ^ Captain America #358
  54. ^ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Deluxe Edition #1
  55. ^ a b The Avengers #302
  56. ^ a b Captain Marvel #51
  57. ^ Captain America #353
  58. ^ Avengers West Coast #47
  59. ^ The Avengers #343
  60. ^ The Avengers #270
  61. ^ The Avengers #301
  62. ^ The Avengers #227
  63. ^ The Avengers #314
  64. ^ Avengers West Coast #58
  65. ^ Avengers #235
  66. ^ Solo Avengers #12
  67. ^ The Avengers #13
  68. ^ The Avengers #6
  69. ^ a b The Avengers #1
  70. ^ West Coast Avengers (vol. 2) #40
  71. ^ Captain America #409
  72. ^ Avina, Anthony (2019-09-06). "10 Most Iconic Superhero Hideouts In Marvel Comics, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  73. ^ Allan, Scoot (2020-03-02). "The Avengers 10 Best Headquarters, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2023-01-09.
  74. ^ Howe, Nicholas (2022-11-08). "9 Coolest Training Facilities In Marvel Comics". CBR. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
  75. ^ Mighty Avengers #27. Marvel Comics. July 2009.
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