Warning: spoilers ahead for Episode 11 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 5, called "All the Comforts of Home."
It used to be that in the old days, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. would go more out of its way to work in a reference to the events of whichever Marvel movie was currently in theaters. Lately, the show has been less concerned with this, content to just tell its own crazy stories and live in its own corner of the MCU. That doesn't mean we don't get a mention of the Sokovia Accords or some such here and there, and the show might have worked in a very sneaky reference to Black Panther, Marvel's latest blockbuster, through a new character played by Dove Cameron.
That thing that she throws is called a chakram, and it is a serious blade. It's supposed to be made out of the same material as Captain America's shield. That can slice through anything, it can cut through bone, anything and everything.
On the most recent episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Dove Cameron debuted as Ruby, a mysterious new character who appears to just be a normal teenager, but is actually much more than that. While the character is still a Quake obsessed enigma, we now know she's also some sort of masked government assassin. She wields a weapon called a chakram, which is a sharp metal ring. While the weapon looks extremely familiar to the one used by Nakia in Black Panther, that's not the connection to the movie. The chakram might be made of vibranium.
Dove Cameron told Syfy Wire that Ruby's chakram is made from the same material as Captain America's shield, which allows it to slice through anything effortlessly. As MCU fans are more than aware, Cap's shield is made of vibranium, that rare metal that exists in Black Panther's home country of Wakanda. However, Cap's shield is the only vibranium that America is supposed to have, so how does Ruby have a vibranium weapon?
When pressed further if the chakram was made out of vibranium, Dove Cameron said that "it could be" and that "they never specifically say anything about that." So, the show won't actually address what the weapon is made of (which it really shouldn't; it's not very important) but fans can draw their own conclusions. That's a nice little detail and it avoids breaking the mythology by not pointing a finger at it. Even though the TV show doesn't have any impact on the movies, it's nice that they aren't just directly contradicting what the movies tell us.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs new episodes on Fridays at 9 p.m. EST on ABC. For more television shows to watch as the season heats up, be sure to visit our midseason premiere guide. And while Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't been cancelled yet, find out what has faced the chopping block with our cancellation guide.
