We knew that the Black Panther, one of the newest members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was going to be a problem for Captain America and Bucky in this summer’s Captain America: Civil War. What we couldn’t guess was how dangerous a threat he actually would be. An eagle eye has noticed that Captain America’s shield, made of one of the strongest materials in the MCU, has actually seen some damage, and we’re pretty sure it wasn’t from Wolverine. Check out this image from the recent Super Bowl TV spot.
As can be clearly seen here, there are five vertical scratches coming down from the top of Cap’s shield. As the the folks over at Heroic Hollywood, who first noticed the scratches, point out, that’s almost certainly a Black Panther right handed claw that did that damage. The Panther is from Wakanda, which, as established in Avengers: Age of Ultron, is home to large deposits of vibranium- the material used to make the shield. It’s also the material used to make Black Panther’s costume and weapons, so it makes some sense that the claws would be capable of damaging the shield.
In fact, these claws are one of few weapons we’ve seen that would be able to do so; we’ve seen the shield take shots from Thor’s hammer without so much as a dent.
Of course, what this really tells us is that somewhere prior to this shot there’s an epic fight scene to be had. The moment that those scratches occur will be a serious moment for Captain America. When he realizes that the Black Panther is not playing around this movie could get really serious really fast.
While we don’t have all the details about why Black Panther is gunning for the Winter Soldier this makes the threat clear. Black Panther isn’t just capable of damaging Captain America. If he can scratch the shield he can also do quite a bit worse. We’re preparing ourselves for the possibility that not everybody will survive Civil War and now it's beginning to show just how real that possibility really is. Check out the full Super Bowl trailer, complete with damaged shield, below.
Do you think the Black Panther will ultimately do more than simply scratch the shield? How do you polish vibranium? Do they make a scratch remover for that stuff?
