Captain America is among one of the most popular heroes from the Marvel Comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is a super soldier that makes use of a shield both offensively and defensively during battle. The shield itself has become very iconic.
If you haven’t been reading the comics and only watched the movies, there are a lot of things that weren’t explained about his shield. In this article, we’ll do our best to let you know everything we can about Captain America’s shield. If you want Captain America’s Shield for yourself, check it out here on Amazon.
The dispute of the shield’s design
If you close your eyes and try to imagine Captain America, you would likely picture him in his suit with the shield strapped on his arm. The shield you imagine will probably be the red and white striped circular shield with a silver star on top of a blue background in the center.
This was not always the shield that Captain America had. The shield that is easily recognized today is not the shield he was given in the original comic.
When Captain America first debuted in the comics during the
MLJ now known as Archie Comics had released a superhero named The Shield months before the debut of Captain America. The design of Captain America’s shield was quite similar to that of “The Shield”, causing a change in the design from heater shield to a circular shield.
Marvel did not offer an explanation for the change in the shape of the shield until 2001 when they published a retconned story.
According to the story, Captain America met Wakanda’s King, T’Chaka, in early 1941 and was given a sample of
The Different Designs of Captain America’s Shields
Below are the different designs of Captain America’s Shield.
This shield design was what Captain America used in Captain America Comics #1. He debuted with this shield in March of 1941. (above)
This was a redesign for Captain America’s heater style shield. There’s really not much of a difference from the original design. The blue and red stripes were inverted and instead of the top part of the shield being curvy, it’s become pointed. (above)
This shield was shown in The Avengers #71 (December, 1969)
Redesigned to no longer be identical to that of “T
(above) The shield first appeared in Captain America’s Comic #3 during May of 1941.
On the cover of The Avengers #4, in March 1964, Captain America brandished this new shield
(above)
Finally, (above) we have the shield most people are probably familiar with due to it being the design used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The following is a list of Captain America’s shields in most of his silver screen appearances.
In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he was seen with a shield that had a different color scheme. Replacing the red with a bluish-gray look. It is the same shield he usually carries but is repainted or covered temporarily if Cap needs to look less conspicuous.
Of course, there’s also the shield that Captain America used during Avengers: Infinity War. This was after Civil War in which Tony Stark reclaimed Captain America’s circular shield. King T’challa gave Cap a new black Wakandan shield to use in battle.
Who Made Captain America’s Shield?
What makes Captain America’s shield so special and intriguing is that it’s not made of just any ordinary material. Cap’s shield is made of the strongest material in the Marvel universe, Vibranium. Vibranium was thought to be
The creator of Captain America’s shield differs between the comics and in the Marvel cinematic universe.
In the comics, Captain America was given a sample of Vibranium from King T’Chaka of Wakanda as we discussed above. The sample was then given to a metallurgist, Myron MacLain, who was also actually responsible for the creation of adamantium.
If you don’t know it yet, adamantium, much like vibranium, is a very strong metal alloy. Vibranium though is a bit stronger than adamantium. Remember Wolverine? His metal bones? Those were made of adamantium.
Going back, the metallurgist, Myron MacLain, was commissioned by the US government to create a powerful shield for Steve Rogers (Captain America). Along with the sample vibranium, he also made use of steel and other substances too.
However, while conducting the test, Myron fell asleep and woke up with all the substances bonded. Although he was successful in creating a material that had very unique properties, he was never able to replicate it.
Myron MacLain was able to create a material so strong that it’s almost indestructible. It’s also able to absorb any kinetic energy and sound that is directed towards it. Another incredible property of the shield is that it actually becomes even stronger when it is hit harder.
We’ll delve deeper into the properties of the shield later on but for now, we’ll tackle more about the creators of the shield. Myron, upon accidentally accomplishing his goal tried to do the experiment again.
However, because he fell asleep while trying to create Captain America’s shield, he didn’t know what exactly transpired. All he could do was to keep on trying. This led to failure though and what he instead was able to create was Adamantium.
Again, the history of Captain America’s shield differs from the comics and the MCU. Although it was Myron who created the shield in the comics, in the MCU, it was Tony’s father, Howard Stark.
The problem with the MCU though, is that nothing was ever said or mentioned about how Howard was actually able to get his hands on the vibranium in the first place. Unlike in the comics where Cap was given sample vibranium, in the MCU, really nothing was stated.
However, there are a couple of theories going around on how Howard was able to get the vibranium. Firstly, vibranium can only be found in Wakanda. The vibranium existing in Wakanda was found from an asteroid that possessed the metal alloys.
One theory suggests that some chips of the asteroid might have crashed somewhere in Africa where Stark’s team were able to acquire it. It might even be somewhere else. Another is that Howard might have actually acquired the vibranium through illegal means.
Another difference in the MCU compared to the comics is that Howard made the shield completely out of vibranium. More than just the vibranium shield, Howard made a few more different shields for Captain America.
However, it was the vibranium shield that captured the liking of Cap. Ever since then, it became his partner in combat.
What Are the Capabilities of Captain America’s Shield?
At first glance, Captain America’s shield might just look very ordinary. Perhaps even with the knowledge that it’s made of vibranium, it can still be easily underestimated and seem like a minimal threat.
However, in the right hands, the shield is an extremely powerful weapon. Being made of vibranium, it can not only absorb kinetic energy and sound, but it can also reflect it. No matter how strong an impact may hit the shield, it won’t shatter and the energy will just be absorbed.
More than just that, it’s also highly-deflective. Even high caliber bullets can be redirected by the shield. Energy beams such as Iron Man’s repulsor beams are also no good against the shield. Even a powerful strike from Mjolnir wasn’t able to dent it.
Captain America isn’t a pushover. Being a super soldier, his enhanced senses made him the perfect user of the shield. With him, the shield isn’t only a powerful defensive tool but also a strong offensive weapon.
We’ve all seen Captain America throwing his shield like it’s nothing. More incredibly, he manages to throw it like a boomerang enabling it to ricochet and return to him. Some might think that it’s magic or some sort of power that Captain America possesses.
However, it is not. It’s plain skills with the use of his shield. He is able to calculate the shield’s trajectory effortlessly in a way that it will ricochet and come back to him. He uses the shield like the extension of his body and he does so naturally and effortlessly.
Can Captain America’s Shield be Broken?
We’ve mentioned that Captain America’s shield is almost impossible to break. It can rarely break. There were a few instances wherein a few characters were able to do so. These characters though were extremely powerful.
Who Were Able to Break Captain America’s Shield?
Being made of the strongest material known in the Marvel universe, you would think that Captain America’s shield would be indestructible. More than being made of the strongest material in the Marvel universe, it has also been one of the most iconic items.
It’s become a symbol of justice and heroism. Can you even imagine Captain America without his shield? Well, there were actually some rare moments wherein that happened.
- DR. DOOM – In Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #11, Dr. Doom managed to steal Beyonder’s cosmic powers. With it, he was able to kill a lot of the heroes with an energy beam. He even broke Captain America’s shield.
The damage was undone though when the Beyonder managed to get his power back and granted the heroes one wish. For Captain America, it was for his shield to be restored.
2. THANOS – Another Character that was able to break Captain America’s shield was of course, Thanos. From the MCU, we know just how powerful Thanos is. With his infinity gauntlet fully filled with gems, it would seem like not even a miracle can do anything to stop him.
In 1991’s Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos was able to beat the Avengers having all of the infinity stones. Trying to do all that he could, Captain America still goes and tried to battle with Thanos.
He was easily thwarted though and with the gauntlet, Thanos easily broke Captain America’s shield. Again, everything was undone when Nebula was able to grab a hold of the infinity gauntlet.
3. ULTRON – Another villain that was able to destroy Captain America’s shield was Ultron. Unlike in the MCU, Ultron was nearly successful with eradicating every hero in the comics. His robotic army killed a lot of the heroes even causing some to go into hiding.
At some point, Captain America was seen looking very devastated sitting near the debris of his shield. Although it was unclear who broke his shield, the likely suspect would be Ultron or one of his sentinels.
4. KING HYPERION – The next one is a character from an alternate Marvel universe. King Hyperion was a sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust and made his way to another Earth. There, he defeated a lot of heroes that were no match for him.
This included Thor, Captain America and many others. Captain America’s shield was seen badly damaged. This Captain America though was from an alternate universe but still, his vibranium shield was no less durable.
5. KING THOR – One more other character that was able to smash Captain America’s shield is King Thor. Quite unlikely but when he became king of Asgard, he thought of ruling the humans instead. He moved to New York but his rule was not wanted by the mortals.
With this, the US government ordered the Avengers to dethrone King Thor. The task though was not easy. With the Odin Force and rune magic, Thor was not only able to break Captain America’s shield, he was also able to kill him. Again though, this was all undone through time travel.
6. VALKYRIE – Another unlikely ally that was able to damage Cap’s shield was Valkyrie. Under the influence of the Enchantress, Valkyrie was able to slice through Captain America’s shield. After everything, Thor helped Captain America with restoring his shield to its former glory.
7. MOLECULE MAN – Molecule Man was also one of the few villains who were able to damage Cap’s shield. Being able to control molecules, he was able to easily disintegrate Iron Man’s armor, Thor’s hammer, Silver Surfer’s board and Captain America’s shield.
Still, the heroes prevailed and the villain ended up having psychiatric help. To make amends, Molecule Man restored the weapons that he disintegrated including Captain America’s shield.
8. THE SERPENT – Next on our list is the Serpent, the god of Fear. When the Serpent escaped his prison, he was able to form an army and went to war against his brother, Odin.
When Captain America threw his shield towards the Serpent, the god of fear was able to catch it and break it in half with just his bare hands. His shield this time was repaired by Asgardian dwarves.
9. SENTINEL – The next on the list that was able to break Captain America’s Shield is Sentinel. Being the ultimate nemesis of mutants, Captain America went on to fight the sentinels to protect his friends.
However, as he tried, the sentinels were already too strong. Sentinels have the capability to mimic the powers of the mutants they fight and use it to their advantage. Overpowered, Captain America was defeated and was seen dying next to his broken shield.
10. GREGORY STARK – Lastly, we have Gregory Stark. In the ultimate universe, Tony had a brother named Gregory. Much like Tony, he was also a genius… even smarter than Tony. But unlike Tony, Gregory is more competent and didn’t have Tony’s infamous lifestyle.
Gregory became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D and a charter member of project Avengers. However, all his works turned out as a cover for what he was plotting. To have his way as the director, he manipulated the Avengers and the Ultimates.
Gregory though got exposed and was then confronted by the Avengers. Being the genius that he is, Gregory was very prepared and had an army of nanites at his disposal. With his nanites, he was able to get Thor’s hammer and use it to shatter Captain America’s shield.
Eventually, Gregory was defeated by the Avengers with the help of the New Ultimates. To summarize, there are 10 characters in this list that were able to break, shatter or disintegrate Captain America’s shield.
That may sound like a lot. But for an entire universe to give it a go, 10 is actually just a very small number.
Who Were Able to Use Captain America’s Shield?
Unlike Thor’s Mjolnir, Captain America’s shield can be used by just anyone. This does not mean of course, that they can be competent and efficient with it. It takes a very skillful user like Captain America to maximize the shield’s potential as both an offensive and defensive weapon.
Since Cap’s shield can be used by anyone, it’s inevitable that someone else besides Cap will use it. Here are some of the characters that were able to get their hands on Captain America’s shield and was able to use it as their own weapon.
1. SUPERMAN – First on the list is Superman. Yes, Superman. We all know that Superman is from a rival comic publishing company, DC. However, there were times when the two giant companies would collaborate and have their characters alongside each other.
In Marvel Vs DC, Superman wasn’t only able to use Captain America’s shield but he was also able to wield Thor’s Mjolnir. This is a very intriguing event as not everyone can lift up Thor’s hammer. Could Superman be “worthy”?
The story though was short lived. In the coming years, could we perhaps also witness a collaboration between Marvel and DC with their movies?
2. BUCKY BARNES – Back in the day, Bucky was Captain America’s sidekick. He was thought to have died in a plane crash but his body was never really found. After some time, he came back as the Winter Soldier.
As the Winter Soldier, Bucky wasn’t really himself as he was brainwashed. After Captain America was assassinated, Bucky took his shield and became the new Captain America.
3. DAVID RICKFORD – At one point, Nick Fury decided on looking for volunteers for a super soldier program. Eventually, they end up recruiting David Rickford. With the super soldier program, they believed that David would become even stronger than Steve Rogers.
It didn’t take David much time to prove himself. In just two weeks, he donned on the costume of Captain America, including the shield. Although Nick Fury looked for new people to be the new Captain America, his real goal was to actually have Steve Rogers back as the hero.
4. ISAIAH BRADLEY – Isaiah was one of the soldiers that were part of an experiment to recreate the process and formula that made Steve Rogers into a superhuman. With the nature of the experiment, not everyone survived.
Bradley was one of these survivors and became a member of a secret missions group of the US. He made a mistake though of using Captain America’s costume and shield during one of his last missions.
Because of what he did, Bradley was court-martialed for stealing Captain America’s gear. Bradley is also the cause of Elijah’s super soldier abilities. At some point, Elijah, Bradley’s grandson, received a blood transfusion from him endowing him with the super soldier power.
5. ROSCOE SIMONS – After Steve Rogers became Nomad, it was Roscoe who picked up the shield and became the new Captain America. Roscoe was a big Captain America fan who fulfilled his fantasies of becoming the hero upon proving himself in battle.
He has a very interesting but tragic story as well. Roscoe was trained by the Falcon. Although doing his job to train the new Captain America, Falcon hoped that Roscoe would retire like the others that tried to be the new Captain America.
Being a hero, one will keep on facing dangers. Some heroes faced dangers more than they could handle and faced their demise. The Falcon feared the worst might come to Roscoe. Eventually, the Red Skull did manage to kill Roscoe and did so by torturing and crucifying him.
This was to send a message that whoever tried to be Captain America and face him will suffer the same fate. This motivated Steve Rogers to once again be Captain America although it was against his will because of his disillusionment and anger with the government.
6. U.S. AGENT – Another character that replaced Steve Rogers when he gave up being Captain America was John Walker. Although strong and able, John was a completely different person from Steve.
Nearly the opposite even. Unlike Steve, John was brutal towards his opponents. He was very violent and beat his enemies brutally. Eventually, Steve had to take matters into his own hands and stop John. After he did so, Steve once again returned to being Captain America.
7. Major Victory – Major Victory was the founder and leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy in year 3,000. He found Captain America’s shield and made use of it as his own. Although not as good as Steve with the shield, he makes up for it by using his powers to manipulate the flight path of the shield.
8. William Burnside – William was a huge fan of Captain America. He was such a fan that it went on to a point of obsession. With his obsession for Captain America, he went on to study American history having his thesis focused on Captain America’s life.
With his study, he discovered Captain America’s identity and the serum that was used for him to become a super soldier. With what he discovered, he changed his name legally into Steve Rogers upon returning to the United States.
With the serum, he went to the FBI and offered it to them. They then let him become a super soldier. Still with his extreme obsession, he went on to have surgery to mimic the appearance and sound of Steve Rogers.
The FBI eventually had to cancel the project because of changes in the situation in Korea. Instead of becoming a super soldier, he was assigned to be a teacher at Lee high School in Connecticut.
There, he met Jack Monroe who also looked up to Captain America just as much as he did. When Red Skull attacked the United Nations, William injected himself and Jack with the untested serum.
Since the process was lacking vita-ray exposure to stabilize the serum, they suffered psychotic symptoms which made the two of them paranoid and unreliable. He was sent to a psychologist named Dr. Faustus but ended up being brainwashed.
William has made it into this list because he also had a shield that had a similar look to that of Steve’s circular shield. What’s interesting though is that his shield isn’t what Steve used.
However, upon trading blows with Barnes who did have Steve’s shield, William’s shield survived. Although the composition of his shield was not stated, it had to be made from an extremely strong material as it was able to battle with the circular vibranium shield.
9. Sam Wilson – Formerly known as the Falcon, made his way to becoming the new Captain America when the effect of Steve’s serum faded. It was Steve himself who gave Sam the title of being the new Captain America.
Sam though, in taking up the mantle, had an updated design with his costume. Along with his new Captain America look, he still had his wings with him that he used when he was still the Falcon.
Did Captain America Abandon His Shield?
Captain America is almost impossible to imagine without his shield. It’s his iconic partner and is with him most of the time. However, there was actually a time where Steve Rogers stopped being Captain America.
This was when he was disillusioned with the government of the United States. At one point, he learned that a high ranking official, potentially the president of the United States himself, was the leader of the Secret Empire.
The Secret Empire was a terrorist organization. Upon knowing about it, he decided to stop serving America. He was then confronted by Hawkeye, who, at the time, disguised himself as the Golden Archer.
The Golden Archer made him realize that he cannot just stop becoming a hero just because of what he learned. Although Steve had a new resolve, he still did not make use of his Captain America costume and shield.
Instead, he made use of a new one and named himself, the Nomad. Steve as the Nomad though was short lived and he came back to being Captain America. Becoming Captain America again though, he stopped following the government blindly.
Captain America’s Shield Vs Magneto
By now, you should already know that Captain America’s shield is made of vibranium. As such, it’s made of metal as Vibranium is a form of very strong metal. In the Marvel universe, there is a mutant so strong that he can manipulate magnets.
Although Steve Rogers has faced a lot of enemies, even gods, Magneto may prove to be too much for him. Magneto is one of the most powerful mutants and with his powers, he can easily disarm Steve.
It has been shown many times that Magneto can manipulate Adamantium. Perhaps an obvious example of this is with his encounters with Wolverine. We mention adamantium because the creator of Adamantium is also the one that made vibranium.
The process of creating adamantium were attempted to recreate vibranium. Although the process is not completely the same, there could potentially be enough similarities for both to have just about the same magnetic properties.
This could mean that the vibranium shield of Captain America is just a toy in Magneto’s eyes. While it is true and yes, Magneto can influence Captain America’s shield, he doesn’t have an overwhelming effect over it.
While the shield is magnetic, it can’t be destroyed by magnetism. This means that while Magneto can push, pull or affect the shield’s movement in any way, he can’t destroy it. Captain America of course, was only able to face Magneto in the comics.
And in the comics, his circular shield wasn’t pure vibranium. Why does this matter? With Magneto’s fight with Black Panther, it was found out that Magneto can’t actually affect pure vibranium.
Black Panther’s suit even made the iron in his blood immune to Magneto’s powers. If Captain America’s shield was made of pure vibranium, it should then be beyond Magneto’s power to control.
In the MCU, this is the case. Perhaps one day, when the Avengers actually get to be with the X-men, we’ll find out if Captain America’s shield can be influenced by Magneto’s powers.
Summary
To summarize, Captain America originally didn’t have the circular shield. He was only then able to have it after a rival comic publishing company filed a cease and desist order to Marvel regarding Captain America’s design.
His circular shield has two origins. One is from the comics and a different one in the MCU. In the comics, it was the metallurgist, Myron MacLain who created Captain America’s shield.
He was commissioned by the US government after Captain America was given a sample of vibranium by King T’Chaka. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was Howard Stark that made Captain America’s shield.
Another difference between the two origins is that the shield in the comics isn’t made of pure vibranium. Meanwhile, the one in the movies is made of pure vibranium. Both in the comics and movies, Captain America’s shield is nearly indestructible.
In the comics, Captain America’s shield may have been broken, shattered and disintegrated but those that were able to do so were characters that had god-level powers. Even Magneto who is one of the most powerful mutants couldn’t destroy the shield.
Along the story of Steve Rogers, he abandoned the role of being Captain America. While not with him, his shield was used by a couple of people who also took the name Captain America for themselves.
The shield has been around for a lot of years and while the life of the shield has mostly been with Steve, other people were also be to use it. More than Steve and those that tried to take his place as Captain America, a couple of other heroes and villains got their chance to get their hands on it as well.