A long-running mystery from Avengers: Endgame has finally been solved. Six years after the film premiered, Marvel has released Thunderbolts*: The Art of the Movie, a brand new book which reveals what really happened to Captain America‘s shield (via Comicbook.com).
As fans of the franchise will remember, Avengers: Endgame saw Cap’s (Chris Evans) original shield destroyed by Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the Battle of Earth.
Later, when he passed the baton to his successor, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), an elderly Steve Rogers handed him a different version, which was adorned with his signature logo.
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According to Marvel‘s latest art book, however, Cap’s original shield was supposed to feature in Thunderbolts*. An idea which never made it to the screen, Marvel had planned to reveal that Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) had acquired it for display in The Watchtower.
While the storyline never came to fruition, it had been intended to highlight the reach of Valentina’s influence. Instead, Thunderbolts* took a different approach, presenting the CIA Director as a wealthy and ruthless businessman who possesses an impressive collection of Avengers artefacts across the board, most notably from the Battle of New York, rather than homing in on Cap’s shield.
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Marvel Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts*: The Art of The Movie Slipcase
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In an interesting twist, by the end of Thunderbolts*, Valentina found herself in a vulnerable position after being forced to introduce Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and her friends as the New Avengers.
It’s unknown what’s next for the character, or whether her expensive Avengers collection will feature in future instalments, but fans are convinced that Julia Louis-Dreyfus will return as Valentina in Avengers: Doomsday.
While her involvement hasn’t been confirmed, the actor’s recent comments on Jimmy Kimmel Live suggested that she may appear.
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After Kimmel asked Louis-Dreyfus whether or not she features, the A-lister replied: “No. No, I can’t answer that question”. Later, however, when the talk show host mentioned her meeting with TikTok star The Rizzler, the Marvel favourite appeared to slip up.
“Is there any possibility that when you’re doing press for Avengers: Doomsday that you will have another visit with The Rizzler?” quipped Kimmel, to which Louis-Dreyfus replied, “I suppose so!” before backtracking on her comments.
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Megan is a freelance news reporter for Digital Spy.