When
Iron Man debuted in theaters back in 2008, a small Easter egg around the halfway point in the film caused comic book fans to rejoice. It was our first look at Captain America's shield in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though it may have looked a bit irregular to what most were used to, the deconstructed weapon
does follow along the storyline of the comics; since Tony Stark has attempted numerous times to replicate and upgrade the shield.
In an interview with MTV News,
Iron Man director Jon Favreau explains how and why the filmmakers decided to place that specific fan nod in the film:
"We introduced Captain America's shield briefly in one shot in the last film. An ILM artist put it in there as a joke to us for our cinesync sessions, when we're approving visual effects."
"They got a laugh out of it, and I said, 'Leave it in, that's pretty cool — let's see if anybody sees it,' Of course, everybody saw it — so now it really was in his room, so we had figure out how to deal with the reality that the shield was in his workshop."
Now, with the movie's sequel
Iron Man 2 released worldwide, fans got to see the shield in another light. Namely, a "skeleton" of what they are used to seeing in the comics.
Favreau wouldn't go into detail about
why this version of the shield was placed in the film, except for saying,
"Part of the history of the Stark family is the super-soldier program."
When asked whether other Marvel movies will explain the significance of the shield that was shown in both
Iron Man movies, Favreau was reluctant to divulge specifics. Regarding his discussions about it with the rest of the Marvel Studios team, he said,
"We've talked about it. Let's see what ['Captain America' director] Joe Johnston does."
MPP - I'll admit, I threw a bit of a hissy fit after seeing the shield in Iron Man 2. But after seeing the film a few more times, I've come to the conclusion that it is merely a more deconstructed stage of the same shield shown in Iron Man. Of course, that's only my opinion, but it's the one that seems to make the most sense. Either way, I really hope that it isn't the one Cap will use in his solo flick.