Contains spoilers for Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29.
The Avengers' Celestial base at the North Pole may have been a mistake, according to a recent issue of Miles Morales: Spider-Man. Putting Earth's Mightiest Heroes in a mountain base may have been a cool visual, but it has caused them to lose their connection to the people they helped the most: the citizens of New York City. Avengers Mansion may not have been the coolest base ever conceived, but it allowed the Avengers to be on the same level as the people they worked closest with, at least that's the argument posed by one concerned citizen in a recent comic.
In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #29, Miles finds himself struggling to balance being the perfect brother, son, student, and superhero every day. It's a lot for one kid to bear and he wants to help everyone who needs help, while still pursuing what's best for himself. Oh and not to mention the clone of him that's running around, as well! The issue - written by Saladin Ahmed (who recently announced his own creator-owned publishing imprint), with art by Taurin Clarke, colors by David Curiel, and letters by VC Corey Petit - touches on many important issues Miles is facing as Spider-Man, but the most important of these may be the words he hears from one of the citizens of New York City.
The Avengers have been operating out of their Celestial base - an ominous mountain of a man in the North Pole - since Avengers #8, which was published in 2018. The base is made from the body of a Celestial who died four billion years ago, according to T'Challa, and the finest Wakandan architects made it livable, given that a body doesn't have rooms. While Celestials may not be as powerful as Galactus, they do make a pretty visually striking home base. However, an encounter with a woman in New York City perhaps changes Miles' view of the Celestial base - and for sure is reflective of how Marvel may feel about the base. “Where are they [the Avengers] when regular people are having regular-people problems? At the North Pole,” she says. Check out the scene below:
Spider-Man, no matter which iteration or version, is a people's hero. He's just a kid from New York City who wants the best for his city and that rings true in this scene. It's possible that Miles, who has surpassed Peter Parker in people skills, may even feel a little hurt by this comment, given how much work he has put in keeping his already-complicated life together on top of being a superhero. Having a mountain base is some visually impressive science-fiction - especially one made out of the body of a Celestial - but does it separate who the Avengers are from what they do?
The Avengers, at their core, are heroes. They help people. Many of them have humble origins - a good number of them are normal people who have been gifted with extraordinary powers and purpose. New York City is the home base of the Avengers - and NYC has a ton of superheroes - and neglecting their "hometown" reflects poorly on them as heroes. It's possible that this conversation with Miles Morales is Marvel's way of acknowledging that readers may see the Avengers return to their normal NYC home base.