‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Baxter Building Has a Long, Weird History in Marvel Comics

[[{“value”:”

For what felt like ages, we speculated about who was purchasing Avengers Tower and its future use. A key plot point of Spider-Man: Homecoming featured Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) facilitating the move to the new Avengers compound upstate following the sale of their New York City location. Because the focus shifted to the Vulture (Michael Keaton) taking advantage of the move, aiming to intercept valuable Avengers tech en route, we were left to wonder! Some thought the MCU was priming itself to introduce Norman Osborn, turning the structure into Oscorp Tower, but two sequels followed with nothing of the sort.

Many of us theorized that the new owners would be The Fantastic Four, swapping the letter A atop the building for a giant number 4 and finally bringing the Baxter Building to the MCU. We now know that Avengers Tower was purchased by the delightfully sinister Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) for whatever nefarious purposes she has planned for the reluctant Thunderbolts* team. However, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it looks like a gloriously comic-accurate adaptation of Marvel’s First Family is on the way, and with that comes the Baxter Building. In Marvel Comics, this place is much more than a mere headquarters for The Fantastic Four. It has a long, quirky history that embodies Marvel in its most fun and campy era.

‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Is Under a Lot of Pressure

The latest trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps promises a long-needed and uniquely fresh take for the MCU. Taking place in an alternate universe, this beloved quartet of heroes — Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) — is already established as the public-facing Fantastic Four. Although glimpses of their origin will likely be referenced in flashbacks, First Steps largely gets to skip the exhaustive leg work of an introduction. With the group operating in full swing, we get the gift of a live-action adaptation of The Fantastic Four, bringing the H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot, the Fantasticar, and the Baxter Building along with them.

The entire aesthetic gives major retro-futurism vibes, evoking the classic charm of The Jetsons, which premiered only one year after The Fantastic Four. Director Matt Shakman​​​​​​is no stranger to bringing brand-new concepts into the MCU, having produced and directed WandaVision. Alongside production designer Kasra Farahani (who also designed Loki, confidently making him a wonderful addition), Shakman has a massive sandbox to play in, and they aren’t remotely hesitant to draw inspiration from The Fantastic Four’s comic book history. The teaser shows scenes of Reed’s stretched-out (pun intended) chalkboard emerging from the floor, The Thing and H.E.R.B.I.E. bantering over culinary skills in the kitchen, and the whole team watching in awe from the Baxter Building’s balcony as impending doom (likely from Ralph Ineson‘s Galactus) approaches the city.

The Baxter Building made its Marvel Comics debut in 1961’s Fantastic Four #3. This is where creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby truly established The Fantastic Four as the superheroes we know and love. (Their iconic costumes made their debut in this issue, too!) The Baxter Building is outfitted with hangars for the Fantasticar and Fantasticopter, an observatory, a long-range missile silo, high-tech laboratories, and just about any amenity you can imagine. Unlike other hero hideouts and the way it’s depicted in First Steps, the original Baxter Building was rather inconspicuous. Appearing like a standard, rectangular skyscraper from the outside, it seamlessly blended into the New York City skyline.

Oddly enough, the lower floors were open and available for public use. The Fantastic Four’s headquarters began on the 34th floor. In 1962’s Fantastic Four #6, Sue Storm passes a telegram messenger attempting to access an elevator that won’t open. “Are you delivering any messages to The Fantastic Four, son?” Sue asks, and the messenger shyly gulps, replying that he is not. “Then I wouldn’t advise waiting for this elevator,” she continues before the elevator opens explicitly for her and her only. Realizing that she’s the Invisible Woman, the messenger gawks and regretfully forgets to ask for an autograph before she ascends to the secret floors of The Fantastic Four.

Doctor Doom Was Hell-Bent on Destroying the Baxter Building — And The Fantastic Four

Like any superhero’s headquarters, the Baxter Building is often the setting for clashes with foes, winding up in all sorts of wacky scenarios. In the aforementioned issue, Fantastic Four #6, the team saw the Baxter Building under attack by a supervillain for the first time. You’d think their first scrap with a foe on their home turf would be rather tame. However, this instance was anything but! Doctor Doom makes a swift ally out of the Submariner (we now commonly know him as Namor), pledging that they share an ambition toward “the punishment and total defeat of The Fantastic Four… and then, of all mankind!”

Doom convinces Submariner to secretly plant his gravity-defying tech in the Baxter Building — a device capable of lifting and transporting objects of immense size. When Submariner and The Fantastic Four are distracted, Doom triggers the device, launching the Baxter Building into space! He aims to trap the structure in the Sun’s orbit, eventually pulling it in and engulfing The Fantastic Four and Submariner. Of course, Doctor Doom is thwarted, but you have to admire his gumption.

That’s just one of many ventures for these four and their command post. Across the countless universes, the Baxter Building has seen both triumph and peril. In 1981’s Uncanny X-Men #142, during the “Days of Future Past” saga, the Sentinels used the Baxter Building as their base of operations while hunting and killing Mutants. And if you think that’s a wild use of the facility, check out the comic run Spider-Man: Spider’s Shadow, which shows the symbiote that possessed Peter Parker and gave him his black suit separating from him and bonding to the Baxter Building itself! That’s right… essentially a Venom Baxter Building.

How Will the Baxter Building Fit in the MCU’s Main Timeline?

If The Fantastic Four make their way to the main timeline and decide to set up shop in New York City,they’ll be in a fish-out-of-water state. It wouldn’t be entirely unlike Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) after freezing and subsequently thawing, transporting him from the 1940s to the present day. Except this time, the newcomers are bringing technological prowess and innovation that’s, in many ways, eons ahead of this Earth’s society. Unfortunately, much of the retro-futuristic feel may be left by the wayside after the events of Avengers: Doomsday (or whichever film ushers these characters into the MCU’s main universe), but that doesn’t mean The Fantastic Four can’t build a new Baxter Building and leave their special imprint on a new timeline.

“}]] What do you do when Doctor Doom launches your headquarters into space?!  Read More