The first time we saw a Helicarrier on screen was in 2012's The Avengers. At the time, it was a pretty mind-blowing experience for Marvel fans, and filmmaker Joss Whedon delivered a pitch-perfect take on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying aircraft carrier.
Not only did we get to see Nick Fury and Maria Hill doing their thing, but a decent chunk of the movie was set on board as well. Classic moments like Black Widow interrogating Loki and The Hulk fighting Thor remain burned into the minds of fans, but little did we know that the clock was ticking for the MCU's Helicarriers.
S.H.I.E.L.D. fell in 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and while brief appearances in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. followed, Marvel Studios moved on from the classic aircraft perhaps a little too quickly.
Regardless, a first look at an upcoming Helicarrier LEGO set has just leaked online. An updated version of the one released in 2015, it's a little more screen accurate and is bigger, with 3057 pieces compared to 2996 in that now-retired set.
The images are a little too blurry for us to say who those Minifigures are, but we see enough to say that it's likely partially based on Captain America: The Winter Soldier (look closely, and you'll spot Steve Rogers' Stealth Suit shield).
We're guessing here—and hoping that official images are on the way—but the rest of the Minifigures may be Black Widow, Loki, Maria Hill, Thor, and Hawkeye.
In 2012, Whedon talked about bringing the Helicarrier to life in The Avengers. "It’s basically an aircraft carrier in the sky," he shared. "Throughout the years, the look of the Helicarrier has evolved in the comics, but it was always the idea of this floating fortress. It was part of the bargain in writing the script that it had to be included, and I wasn’t about to say no."
"We had a lot of discussions on figuring out how to make it work, but the streamlined design that our production designer James Chinlund came up with was very sleek and cool, but it also toed the line between fantasy and reality very well," the filmmaker added.
The Helicarrier's introduction in the movie remains a hugely memorable scene, as it rises out of the water before taking flight (much to the shock of the man out of time, Captain America).