10 Unrevealed Secrets About The Baxter Building

Sitting just east of Fifth Avenue, the Baxter Building is a 35-story-tall building located at 42nd Street and Madison Avenue in New York City. The upper five floors are the home of the world-famous superhero team/family the Fantastic Four, and their home are one of the first superhero headquarters known to the public. Of course, most superhero hideouts are secret or in remote locations.

The building was originally built in 1949 to accommodate a paper company, so the ceilings are very high and the walls and floors are much thicker and made from stronger materials than similar buildings, to deal with the weight of the machinery that was needed. The strength of the building was a major draw for Reed Richards in his choice to move his team there, and Reed made extensive modifications of his own to address the needs of his family.

The Fantastic Four owned the Baxter Building in part or in total at various points in their career. They often ran into trouble with the other tenants, the building manager, or even the city because of the frequent attacks on the locale. The building was destroyed on several occasions and even shot into space, twice. Added to that, the building has been rebuilt several times and even replaced by a new property called Four Freedoms Plaza, which was later destroyed by the Thunderbolts.

After the collapse and restarting of the universe, the Richards Family were presumed dead. In actuality, they were alive and creating new universes with Franklin and Owen’s powers. To cope with their grief, Ben Grimm joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, and Johnny Storm became an ambassador to the Inhumans and a member of the Avengers Unity Squad. The consequences were that neither man was paying attention to the Baxter Building.

The abandoned building went up for auction and was purchased by Peter Parker as the temporary headquarters for Parker Industries. Dismayed at what he had done, Johnny attacked, but after a brief battle, Spider-Man assured him that he outbid other companies like the evil Roxxon Oil and would hand the building over to the FF should they return. The Human Torch had to admit he was happy that the building had stayed in the “family.”

When the Richards returned in Fantastic Four #4, they found a new team living in their building called the Fantastix. They were 2D, Hope, Iceberg, and Ms. Fantastix, and had obtained ownership of the building thanks to their manager and publicist Brenda Bannicheck. She also arranged a fight with the Wrecking Crew to drum up publicity. After Valeria ended the fight by offering the Wrecker more money, Reed let the Fantastix keep the building until the opening of the Forever Gate forced him to take it back.