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Why is Captain America’s shield round?

Captain America wouldn’t be as powerful without his legendary shield. The latter, however, originally had another form. We explain to you why the object finally became round.

Captain America’s shield, a formidable weapon – Credit: Marvel Studios

The iconic superhero weapon is still relevant in the MCU. Falcon and the Winter Soldier has also inaugurated a new shield for Captain America. Like its predecessors, this one has a round shape. Still, the Cape shield originally had a completely different look. The superhero had taken his first steps in Captain America Comics in 1940. At the time, it was equipped with a triangular shield of medieval inspiration, having a shape similar to the shields of knights.

Problem, it did not please MLJ Comics at all, which had launched at the beginning of the year a patriotic superhero named The Shield (the shield in French). This one is notably decked out in a combination that actually inspired the creators of Captain America a lot. As a top, The Shield features a triangular shield made up of stars and stripes, a direct reference to the American flag. To avoid legal problems, Simon, Kirby and Goodman finally decide to make Captain America’s shield round.

Read > Marvel: Chris Evans sells a Captain America shield for a good cause

The origins of Captain America’s shield in the comics

That’s why Captain America has a circular shield. But what do comics tell us about this? The explanations diverge in the different comics. In Captain America #303 (published in 1968), metallurgist Myron MacLain says he created the shield by developing a vibranium alloy – made available to him by the US government. He specifies that he poured his mixture into the hollow of a disc-shaped mould, for the sake of practicality for his experiment, which therefore proved to be more than conclusive.

In Rise of the Black Panther (2018), we learn that the vibranium sample was given to Captain America by Wakanda to thank him for his help against the Nazis during World War II. The comics Captain America/Black Panther: Flags of Our Fathers (2010) state that Cap befriends T’Challa’s grandfather at the front. Its shield is nevertheless destroyed at the end of a fight. Black Panther then offers a round vibranium shield to Captain America who refuses it. He says, however, that it inspired him to design a new shield. Under the impulse of Nick Fury, he then steals a sample of vibranium, the latter allowing the manufacture of the famous circular shield.

For the record, Chris Evans will never play the role of Captain America in the MCU again. It is now Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) who took over in Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Source : CBR

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