Marvel Studios Co-President Shows Off His 10th-Anniversary Signed Captain America Shield

Being an executive at Marvel Studios comes with a lot of perks, including having access to incredible collectibles. Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito took to Twitter to show off one of these incredible relics, holding his Captain America shield adorned with signatures from the key members of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

D’Esposito shared a photo of the shield while adding, “Just received my signed 10-year anniversary shield. Thank you to the fans – without you, this wouldn’t be possible.”

The Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off in 2008 with Iron Man, a character which the general public wasn’t as familiar with at the time. Thanks in large part to the performance of Robert Downey Jr., Tony Stark cemented himself in the cultural landscape and has been featured in seven subsequent films, becoming the linchpin of the franchise.

Iron Man also helped popularize what would become a recurring facet of every MCU movie, the post-credits tease. Other films had previously included additional footage at the end of a movie, but the MCU utilized these sequences in an all-new way. With multiple Marvel films announced to follow Iron Man, these sequences teased what viewers could expect in an upcoming movie, with fans often recognizing the significance of these scenes while audiences who were less familiar had their curiosities piqued.

Sadly, the 10-year mark also sees the conclusion of some performers’ tenure with the franchise, but there are many more stories to be told.

“I will say, the entire intention of Infinity War and the next Avengers film next year was to have an ending – to bring a conclusion to 10-plus years, 22 movie narrative in a way that hadn’t been done before in this particular type of film,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige said in an interview earlier this year. “It’s been done before in films where there are a finite number of books, and they finish telling the story for the books, so they come to an ending. Characters like Spider-Man or Batman or James Bond or Iron Man, who have been around for so long and are always refreshed in comic books or novels or movies, you don’t necessarily get that kind of an endpoint – and we wanted to do that, which is what these next two Avengers films are. It doesn’t mean the MCU is coming to a close, by any means. But it means the narrative that started when we began 10 years ago will have a conclusion.”

The next Avengers film, which will see the exit of key MCU cast members, hits theaters on May 3, 2019.

What do you think about the impressive shield? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T Twitter, louisde2]