3 Questions About Captain America’s New Shield that are Still Unanswered
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has left us with a bunch of questions. We don’t know how Sharon managed to become the Power Broker. The show hasn’t revealed the true fate of Old Man Cap. Sam & Bucky just said that he is gone. Episode 5 brought in Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, aka Val. And her arrival has raised even more questions.
Who is her handler? Since she was a triple agent in the comics, who is she representing right now in the MCU? Will she bring Hydra back into the mix? Is she going to introduce the Russian organization called Leviathan? Or will she be assisting Thaddeus Ross in creating the Thunderbolts? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But, there’s one more thing. Val has actually raised doubts about another aspect of the MCU. Here’s what she told Walker “Here’s a little dirty state secret: It doesn’t really belong to the government. It’s kind of a legal grey area.” So, who does the shield really belong to?
Shield’s Ownership
Now last we heard, the shield did belong to the government. Back in Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow said, “Technically, it’s the government’s property. Wings too.” Even when Sam Wilson retired the shield to the Smithsonian museum, the government acquired it and handed it over to John Walker. He held the shield for a total of four episodes until he was stripped of the title of Captain America for publicly murdering Nico the Flag Smasher. The government asked Walker to return the shield that he was given. But since he didn’t have it, he obviously couldn’t have given it back.
And now that Val has revealed a key detail about the ownership of the shield, people have started to wonder who exactly owns the shield. Howard Stark used the US government’s Vibranium supply and turned a prototype shield into Cap’s most valuable asset. Then several decades later, Cap left the shield and Tony held it in his garage for about 7 and a half years. When Cap finally got it, he gave it to Sam. And now, Sam has taken on the mantle of Captain America. And, what’s great is that he cannot even be asked to give it back. Not only has he proven to be the right man for the job, but the government cannot stronghold him into surrendering the shield legally.
The U.S. Government’s claim to it is understandable since they owned the Vibranium of the shield, and consider the role of “Captain America” as their property. But there’s an old expression that says, “Possession is 9/10ths of the law.” It means that as a practical procedural reality, the law implicitly favors the person who possesses any property at a given time. So, the legal grey area is that because Sam is currently in the possession of the shield, he is the owner.
But Where Did the Shield come from?
Besides, there’s another fact which we need to consider. Cap’s original shield was actually destroyed by Thanos. This is a new shield that he brought from another timeline by old man Steve. So technically, the government of this timeline doesn’t have any right to claim it anyway. But we’ll have to wait in order to find out who was the real owner of this shield in Steve’s new timeline. The rumored project of Chris Evans might answer that. It should also answer the following question:
How is the new shield different?
MCU’s first Captain America shield was completely made up of Vibranium. There is a chance that the second one is made up of the same substance as well. But in the comics, Cap’s shield is made up of a metal called Proto-Adamantium. This is the strongest version of Adamantium & it was mixed with Vibranium to create Cap’s shield. It was created by Dr. McLain, and no one could ever recreate it. Upon attempts of recreation, the result that achieved was called “primary adamantium,” which was then fused with Wolverine’s bones. Adamantium has proven to be superior to Vibranium in various aspects.
So, is there a chance that Sam Wilson’s shield is made up of Proto-adamantium instead of pure Vibranium? I mean, it’d be amazing if the shield would be different in more ways than just its design and pattern. It’s probably even stronger considering that even its paint didn’t wear off when Walker broke Lemar’s fall using the shield. So, I’d say that Sam Wilson’s Captain America is extremely strong as he has got flight and tech like Iron Man, Vibranium wings, and probably this new Proto-adamantium shield. It more than makes up for the lack of super soldier serum in his body.
Still, this proto-adamantium thing is more of a theory, so take it as a grain of salt. But I’d like for it to be true because it could pave the way for Wolverine’s arrival into the MCU. Let’s see if the upcoming Captain America 4 will answer these questions about the shield.
All 6 episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier are now streaming on Disney+. Directed by Kari Skogland, it stars Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, aka Falcon, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, aka The Winter Soldier, Daniel Brühl as Baron Helmut Zemo, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Desmond Chiam, Miki Ishikawa, Noah Mills, and Carl Lumbly.
