Contains spoilers for AXIS: Judgment Day #4!Just as important as any costume, Captain America The iconic Unbreakable Shield is a symbol representing one of Marvel’s greatest heroes. Although the upper limit of the shield’s impenetrable nature has yet to be determined, a recent page shows that the shield’s true constraint limit is far more than one might think.
The Avengers find themselves in the middle of a war between the Eternals and the X-Men in the present day Judgment Day an event. To stop the Eternal Druig’s assault on mutantkind, the Avengers and their allies helped build the Progenitor; a Celestial created from the body that serves as Avengers Mountain. Although they intended for the Celestial to simply order a ceasefire for his Eternal servants, the Ancestor took it upon himself to bring Earth its day of reckoning, judging each person individually to see if it is basically good or bad. If the Progenitor finds more good than evil, he will raze the planet.
At Kieron Gillen and Valerio Schiti CHOPPED: Judgment Day #4 ends with the ancestor’s decision to annihilate humanity. As the Progenitor in all his celestial glory lowers his thumb, a blast of energy rains down on Captain America and those around him. After the dust settles, Steve Rogers looks around, surrounded only by skeletons and ash, his shield having shielded him from the entire celestial explosion. It’s a demonstration of the shield’s immense protective abilities rather than sparing Steve Rogers, as Captain America was actually the first to be judged by the Celestial, deemed a failure due to his failed efforts to unite the world.
It has to be one of the most impressive displays of the power of the iconic shield to date. Protecting Captain America from blows against Thanos or the Hulk is one thing, but resisting a celestial explosion head-on is another. For Cap, breaking out of the blast meant to eradicate life – instantly incinerate everyone around him – simply by holding the shield above his head is quite a feat of strength for the vibranium-based object (and of proto-Adamantium).
It’s not the first time the iconic object has withstood such power, but it’s very rare. What if…? #70 shows Captain America surviving a similar attack by Galactus, but beings such as Thanos (wielding the Infinity Gauntlet) and the Asgardian Serpent were able to break it. Captain America being able to repel a celestial explosion suggests rather than being due to power, past instances of the shield breaking were due to magical reality altering abilities rather than sheer force, as few many things can equal the pure power of a Celestial.
While fans knew that even Marvel’s strongest heroes and villains struggled to breach Captain America’s shield, few would have guessed that he was powerful enough to take a blast from near point-blank range. one of the cosmic gods. Now, however, this question seems to be beyond debate, as Captain America proves that despite lacking conventional superpowers, his shield allows him to take on the most powerful beings in Marvel.
AXIS: Judgment Day #4 is available now from Marvel Comics.
