5.4 kg11.9 lb
Captain America’s shield weighs 5.4 kg (12 lb) according to Marvel, a figure from the 1984 Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe that marvel.com still quotes. That is the comic book shield, a 2.5 foot (76 cm) disc of vibranium alloy. The films never give a weight, but the metal movie prop also weighs about 12 lb.
| Shield in the comics12 lb, Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #15 (1984) | 5.44 kg12 lb |
|---|---|
| Metal movie propabout 12 lb, says prop master Russell Bobbitt | 5.4 kg11.9 lb |
| Life-size fiberglass replicaBeast Kingdom’s 69 cm collector’s shield (2014) | 4 kg8.82 lb |
The number comes from Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe #15 (May 1984), the issue of Mark Gruenwald’s handbook that covered weapons and gear. Its entry describes the shield as a concave disc 2.5 feet (76 cm) across, weighing 12 pounds. Marvel’s own character page for the shield repeats both figures, and the Marvel Database and Wikipedia use them too.
The round shield itself is much older. Cap carried a pointed, badge-shaped shield in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) and switched to the round one in issue #2 the next month, reportedly after rival publisher MLJ complained that the first design looked too much like its own hero, the Shield. The handbook is the earliest source of a weight we could trace.
In the comics the shield is not pure vibranium. The handbook and Captain America #303 (1985) describe a one-off alloy of Wakandan vibranium and an experimental iron or steel alloy, fused by accident by metallurgist Myron MacLain in the 1940s. Nobody has managed to copy it, and the mystery ingredient is now called proto-adamantium. In the films the shield is plain vibranium, and Howard Stark tells Steve Rogers that it is “stronger than steel and a third of the weight”.
Those two facts let us check the 12 lb. Spread over a flat 76 cm disc, 5.4 kg works out to about 12 kg per square metre. If vibranium is a third as dense as steel (about 2.6 g/cm³, close to aluminium), the shield would be about 4.5 mm thick. The same shield made of steel would weigh around 16 kg (36 lb), which is why Stark’s line matters: a steel disc that size would be a heavy thing to throw all day.
For Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), prop master Barry Gibbs made an aluminium “hero” shield for close-ups, a lighter version with an aluminium face and fiberglass back for daily use, a polyurethane stunt shield and an extra-soft one to carry on Chris Evans’ back in case of accidents.
On Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), prop master Russell Bobbitt told the New York Daily News that the metal shield weighs about 12 pounds, the same as Marvel’s figure. After a 12 to 14 hour day that got tiring, so the crew mostly used fiberglass, plus hard and soft rubber shields for fights. Around 46 shields were used on that film.
Bobbitt’s hero shield for Avengers: Endgame (2019) is 24 inches (61 cm) across, smaller than the comics’ 30 inches, and made of high density foam under a spun aluminium skin. Between 30 and 40 shields were built for that film. The one Evans held in close-ups sold at Hake’s Auctions in November 2021 for $259,540, an auction record for a Marvel movie prop.
Made of steel at the comics’ size and our estimated 4.5 mm thickness, it would weigh around 16 kg (36 lb). The 12 lb official figure only works for a metal about as light as aluminium, which matches the films’ claim that vibranium is a third the weight of steel.
Marvel gives 2.5 feet, about 76 cm, in diameter. The hero prop made for Avengers: Endgame is a little smaller, 24 inches (61 cm) across and about 3 inches deep.
In the comics, a unique alloy of vibranium and iron with an unknown extra ingredient called proto-adamantium. In the Marvel films it is pure vibranium, the only supply the US had in the 1940s.
The metal prop weighs about 12 lb (5.4 kg), according to prop master Russell Bobbitt. Most action scenes use lighter fiberglass or rubber copies, and the Endgame close-up shield is foam covered in spun aluminium.
It depends on the material. Beast Kingdom’s life-size fiberglass replica, 69 cm across, weighs 4 kg (8.8 lb), a little lighter than the official 12 lb.
Last checked October 2, 2026.
