One iconic scene from Phase 1 of the MCU will be repeated with a brilliant twist in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Thunderbolts* movie. Marvel Studios released the latest special look at Thunderbolts * in November 2024, revealing more about the highly-anticipated crossover movie which is scheduled to be released in May 2025 as part of the MCU’s Phase 5. Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts* will bring together several reformed villains and antiheroes from the MCU’s history in a brilliant crossover event, with Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ enigmatic Valentina Allegra de Fontaine seemingly at the center of the action.

Little is known about Valentina, though her previous brief appearances in projects such as The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Black Widow and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever have uncovered a mysterious secret agenda. Valentina is the Director of the CIA in the MCU, but has established a strange connection to several superpowered and specially-gifted individuals, perhaps for nefarious purposes. Thunderbolts*’ special look from 2024’s D23 Brazil event revealed something huge about Valentina in the MCU, which twists one iconic moment from way back in Phase 1’s The Avengers.

Val Repeats (& Flips) Tony Stark’s The Avengers Bar Scene In Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts*’ Trailer Reveals Valentina Bought Avengers Tower

The new owner of Avengers Tower has remained a mystery in the MCU since the landmark was sold back in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, but Thunderbolts’ trailers confirm Valentina purchased the building. Avengers Tower was first seen in The Avengers and became a central location during the Battle of New York as Loki used its arc reactor to power his Tesseract portal. Prior to the Battle of New York, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark briefly spoke to Loki while making himself a drink in the future-Avengers Tower bar, and this scene was repeated in Thunderbolts*’ new trailer.

This moment could be seen as a way of showing that Tony Stark’s legacy lives on in the MCU, though his alcohol abuse narratives from Marvel Comics were never adapted fully for the MCU. Instead, Valentina directly references the Battle of New York in Thunderbolts*’ new trailer, noting that many battles happened in that exact spot. In The Avengers, not only did Tony Stark spar with Loki in the Tower’s bar, but this is also where Loki was eventually brought to his knees by the Hulk, and the site of the Avengers’ first battle against Ultron in 2015.

Thunderbolts* Flipping The Avengers’ Bar Scene Makes Total Sense For The MCU Movie

The Thunderbolts Are A Dark Mirror Of The Avengers

Now, it seems Avengers Tower’s bar will witness a fight between Valentina and the Thunderbolts themselves, and this is the perfect mirror of The Avengers’ original battle in the MCU. The Thunderbolts are the perfect antithesis to the Avengers, with many of them being dark mirrors of original Avengers members, so twisting this iconic scene in Thunderbolts* makes both logical and thematic sense. It will be interesting to revisit Avengers Tower in the MCU’s Phase 5, seeing what it has become in the years since it was last seen, and seeing which epic fight will take place inside next.

Upcoming MCU Movies