 
-When Captain America throws
his mighty she shield,
all those who choose to
oppose the shield must yield.
But how does the shield seem
to always come back to him?
Welcome to a tie-in video
where I wear a tie in video.
Sometimes I'm Scott.
And this is a video that
I've been looking forward
to for quite some time now.
Cap's shield has a really
fun history and some trivia
behind it as well.
When Captain America
debuted his shield
wasn't round like
we know it is today.
The disc shape was
only introduced
in the second
issue of the comics
because the first design too
closely resemble the chest
plate of another patriotic comic
book character from MLJ's Pep
Comics named The Shield.
This new shield design
it would obviously
make it easier to
throw, which we see
drawn for the first time
in issue number four.
Although there was a written
text story in issue number
three by Stan Lee that describes
Cap throwing his shield
as well.
The question remains
though why does his shield
seem to almost magically return
to him after he throws it?
The very simple
answer would probably
be something like
how it would be
boring to have to show Cap
always going over and picking
up his shield every
time he threw it.
But the comic book
answer is simply
that Cap has been fighting
with that shield for so long
that he has learned
how it works.
He knows its weight
and balance and how
it would react when thrown
against different surfaces
at different speeds and angles.
Cap has described his
shield not just as a weapon
but rather, more like
a part of himself,
an extension of his body.
When he shield sank to the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean,
Tony Stark made
him a replacement.
But cap could never get
used to the feel of it
when he would throw it.
One time he did throw in battle.
And that proved to
be a bad decision
as he failed to catch it upon
its return and then was shot.
He then used a replica of
his original shield for a bit
before being given a
photonic shield that
could mimic Cap's
lost shield as well
as morph into other objects
like a staff or a small knife
with a little star on it.
Eventually though, his shield
was found, albeit in pieces,
but fixed using comic
book science and luck.
The point is that the reason
he's able to throw his shield
and have it come back to him is
because he knows the shield so
precisely and has
a mental capacity
to calculate ballistics and
trajectory's on the fly.
However, this was
not always the case.
When Cap back after
being frozen in ice
Avengers number six
shows us that Iron Man
installed sub
miniature transistors
within the center
of Cap's shield
and gave him a glove
with powerful magnets.
This would allow Cap to throw
his shield, have it go anywhere
and do anything he wants,
and then return to him,
firmly planting
itself on his arm.
This lasted for just a tiny
bit before being taken away
in Tales of Suspense Number 62.
Cap's shield is
stolen by prisoners
who want to use its new
magnetic capabilities to open up
their last gate to freedom.
But it doesn't work because cap
removed all of Iron Man's tech
since it ruined the shield's
delicate balance, balance
that Cap needs in order to
perform those awesome throws.
What's really
interesting is that one
of "Age of Ultron" trailers
shows this clip right here,
which seems an awful lot
like those magnetic gloves
that Iron Man made
for him in the comics.
Now, I want to stress that
this video is being released
before the movie comes out.
So I have no idea
what this clip means.
But I really hope we
see a similar thing,
where Iron Man gives Captain
America's shield an upgrade
before Cap gets rid
of it all, preferring
the shield how it was before.
What do you guys think?
Do you like the
idea of Cap's shield
returning to him
because he simply
has a mastery of the weapon?
Or do you like the
idea of technology
enhancing the shield?
And if you're watching
this before "Age of Ultron"
comes out, what do you think
the story behind the shield
will be?
Let me know all of your
thoughts in the comments.
This video is a part of
NerdSync Avengers month.
We're doing a whole month of
Avengers and Marvel episodes
in preparation for
"Age of Ultron".
We've got a few more to
come that I'm very excited
about to make sure you get
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so you don't miss
out on any of it.
Once again, I'm Scott.
You can find me on
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And we'll see you on
Monday for another episode
of the NerdSync podcast
available on iTunes
and SoundCloud linked below.
See ya!
