Avengers Tower, formerly known as Stark Tower, is a high-rise building complex located in Manhattan, New York City. Owned and constructed by Tony Stark, the tower is powered by an Arc Reactor that makes it capable of running itself for over a year. The top ten floors were originally all devoted to research and development. Following the dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D., Stark repurposed the tower as the main headquarters of the Avengers.
Tony Stark finished installing the last piece of an Arc Reactor in the undersea wiring near New York City thanks to his Iron Man armor, in order to disconnect the newly constructed Stark Tower from the general electricity network, becoming the first self-sustained building in New York.
Stark contacted Pepper Potts while returning to the tower to tell her that she could turn on the light. Stark witnessed how the Tower got lit, and entered inside to celebrate with Potts. J.A.R.V.I.S. informed Stark that agent Phil Coulson was trying to contact him, but Stark dismissed the call. Potts checked the energy levels of the tower were stable, and discussed with Stark how the idea about Stark Tower came from the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest. Stark suggested Potts that she must attribute herself a 12% percent of the merit, and although he tried to justify himself, Stark realized the comment was inappropriate. Coulson called Stark again, annulling J.A.R.V.I.S.'s protocols, and although Stark tried to dismiss him again, Coulson appeared in the tower, where Potts greeted him on a first-name basis to Stark's surprise.
As Coulson explained that his visit was not based on Stark's status as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., he thought it had to do with the Avengers Initiative, even although that project had been discarded and Stark had been deemed as unsuitable. Coulson handed Stark a tablet containing files about the other candidates of the Avengers Initiative: Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner and Thor, about the Tesseract and about Loki. Potts realized that she must leave Stark alone to let him focus in the task handed over by S.H.I.E.L.D. Potts asked Coulson if he could take her to LaGuardia Airport to go to Washington, D.C., and asked how things were going with Audrey Nathan, his cellist girlfriend, and Coulson informed her that she moved back to Portland.
Loki, during his quest to conquer Earth, chose Stark Tower in New York City as the place to open his portal for the Chitauri with the Tesseract, in order to publicly beat the Avengers an assert his authority over the world. Erik Selvig installed the device he created under Loki's control in the rooftop of Stark Tower, connecting to the Arc Reactor sustaining the tower.
Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower and was informed by J.A.R.V.I.S. that the Arc Reactor had been disconnected, but the Tesseract was already activated. Stark asked Selvig to turn off the device, but Selvig said it was too late for it, so Stark tried to attack the device. The barrier surrounding the Tesseract knocked both Stark and Selvig down, breaking Loki's control over Selvig. Stark descended to the penthouse of the tower to deal personally with Loki. Stark entertained Loki while J.A.R.V.I.S. prepared the Mark VII Armor. Stark offered Loki a drink, menacing him of how he should be afraid of the Avengers, as he pissed each and every one of them. Loki tried to control Stark, but as the Scepter touched the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest, the reaction was not the one he expected, and he couldn't control Stark. Angered by his failure, Loki threw Stark off a window, and he was saved in the nick of time by the Mark VII Armor launched by J.A.R.V.I.S., who attached to him before hitting the ground. Iron Man went to confront Loki again, this time in the name of Phil Coulson, knocking down Loki with an attack of his repulsor gauntlets.
A portal to the Sanctuary was finally opened, and the first waves of the Chitauri began arriving on Earth above Stark Tower. Iron Man managed to destroy the first Chitauri that crossed the portal, but their number soon proved to be more than Iron Man could handle alone. The Chitauri began spreading through the area surrounding Stark Tower and attacking civilians, while Loki beheld the destruction they were causing. Thor arrived and ordered Loki to turn the Tesseract off, or he would destroy it. Loki went to attack his brother, battling on Stark Tower.
Black Widow contacted Iron Man, having arrived in a Quinjet with Captain America and Hawkeye, and they assisted Iron Man destroying many Chitauri Chariots that were following him. Loki hit the Quinjet from the penthouse of Stark Tower with a shot from his weapon, and they were forced to land near the tower. Thor tried to reason with Loki, asking him if he thought that madness would end under his rule. Loki seized to opportunity to stab Thor with a concealed knife. Outraged, Thor went to hit Loki, seemingly beating him into submission, but Loki managed to flee in one of the Chitauri Chariots, leaving his scepter behind, and began mercilessly attacking civilians.
Black Widow realized that they needed to close the portal after containment proved to be overwhelming. Captain America helped her to jump on a Chitauri Chariot to quickly ascend to Stark Tower while the rest of the Avengers continued to battle the Chitauri. Loki began following Black Widow, shooting at her to prevent her from reaching the Tesseract, but Hawkeye was able to shoot him and knock him down from his vehicle, landing on Stark Tower. Hulk jumped to Stark Tower, and while Loki tried to exert his superiority as a god, Hulk savagely beat him. Black Widow approached the Tesseract, and Erik Selvig, now free from Loki's control, revealed that the Scepter was the key to close the portal.
The World Security Council decided to send a nuclear missile and make it explode in New York City to contain the Chitauri invasion. Iron Man told Black Widow to wait when she was in the rooftop of the Tower, about to close the portal, as he planned to send the missile through the portal. Seeing that Iron Man would not be returning, Captain America ordered Black Widow to close the portal using the Scepter, and Iron Man fell off the portal in the nick of time. Together, the six Avengers went to the penthouse of the Tower to confront Loki, who surrendered and now accepted the drink Iron Man offered him earlier.
Tony Stark returned to Stark Tower with Pepper Potts, planning to transform the tower into the headquarters for the Avengers, adapting it to the needs of each and every member.Following the Battle of New York, Stark Tower become a gathering point for fans of superheroes, including many cosplayers. They hoped to see one of the so-called Heroes of New York. Skye, a member of the Rising Tide, approached Stark Tower once in cosplay, although she did not easily admit the fact when questioned about it.
Stark Tower in New York City was one of the intended targets of Project Insight, as Tony Stark was deemed a threat for HYDRA's plans. The Insight satellites marked Stark as a candidate along numerous other individuals in New York City. The city was not shot as Captain America and his allies were able to change the intended targets and stop HYDRA in time. Phil Coulson found out the location of the Scepter. He sent it to Maria Hill who delivered it to the Avengers. In the wake of HYDRA's defeat with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony Stark decided to create weapons capable of seeking out and defeating HYDRA's remaining outposts and members, creating the artificial intelligence known as Ultron in the process.
Following a skirmish in Seoul, the Avengers reunited in the Tower alongside Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Having retrieved a device known as the Cradle containing what was supposed to be Ultron's final body, Tony opted to upload J.A.R.V.I.S. into it in order to use the body to fight Ultron, resulting in a disagreement with Captain America and a brief brawl to ensue. The fight was interrupted when Thor arrived and used Mjølnir to jumpstart the body. Being dubbed the "Vision", this android would persuade the Avengers into working together in order to stop Ultron. The group would then depart shortly afterwards aboard their Quinjet. Following the Ultron Offensive, the Avengers abandoned the Avengers Tower in favor of the New Avengers Facility as their new headquarters. Despite this, Tony Stark continued to make use of Avengers Tower, reverting its name back to Stark Tower, and used it for Stark Industries purposes. However, following the Avengers Civil War, Stark sold the tower and arranged for Happy Hogan to transport the Avengers-related items to the upstate Avengers facility. The cargo plane was hijacked by Vulture, who attempted to steal the entire inventory, until his efforts were impeded by Spider-Man. During 2017, the tower started to be under major construction.
Residents:
Iron Man
Pepper Potts
Personnel:
Maria Hill
Helen Cho
The Iron Legion
Equipment:
The Quinjet
