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In Iron Man 2 when Tony is working on trying to create a new element for his arc reactor, Coulson finds a familiar looking shield which Tony uses to prop a coil

Agent Coulson: [Pulls a familiar looking object out of a box] What’s this doing here?
Tony: That’s it. Bring that to me.
Agent Coulson: You know what this is?
Tony: [As Agent Coulson hands it to him] It’s exactly what I need to make this work. Lift the coil. Go, go. Put your knees into it. There you go. And… Drop it. Drop it. [The shield is now in position and the coil straight.] Perfectly level. I’m busy. What do you want?

Source: Transcripts Wikia

Steve's Shield

It seems to be implied that it's Steve's Shield that Howard Stark must have kept or something. But the thing is that it looks as if the Shield was in the middle of being rebuilt but Steve's shield wasn't damaged like during his battle with Red Skull on the Valkyrie.

So what happened to Steve's shield for it to get like this?

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  • 6
    You sure this is Steve's?
    – Vishwa
    Jun 18, 2019 at 5:12
  • @Vishwa pretty sure it's implied to be but if it isn't it then makes me wonder about Coulson's reaction when he finds it
    – Memor-X
    Jun 18, 2019 at 5:16
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    I asked because in next movie, we see Steve still got his shield and froze with it. so it couldn't be the original. maybe Tony is trying to create a thing that his father talked about often. Caulson probably knew about the shield and Steve, later revealed that Coulson was a huge fan of Captain America right?
    – Vishwa
    Jun 18, 2019 at 6:04
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    It looks more like a prototype or design demo.
    – Smock
    Jun 18, 2019 at 10:40
  • See also scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/34766/…
    – Paul D. Waite
    Jun 18, 2019 at 19:34

1 Answer 1

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That's just an easter egg for the next movie, Captain America: The First Avenger.

From this interview with director Jon Favreau,

"We introduced Captain America's shield briefly in one shot in the last film," he said. "An [Industrial Light and Magic] artist put it in there as a joke to us for our cineSync sessions, when we're approving visual effects.

"They got a laugh out of it, and I was like, 'Leave it in, that's pretty cool — let's see if anybody sees it,' " he explained. "Of course, everybody saw it — so now it really was in his room, so we had to figure out how to deal with the reality that the shield was in his workshop."

He didn't go into further details that what happened to it.

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    Perfect production explanation. In-universe, we know both that Howard made multiple prototype shields and that various Captain America merchandise was sold during and after Steve's service in WWII. The shield here could be either, since it was found among Howard's equipment and belongings, but given how flimsy it looks and the way it gets crushed under the coil where Tony stuffs it, I'm inclined to think it's a toy/decoration rather than a real prototype.
    – DanDoubleL
    Jun 18, 2019 at 14:52
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    @DaniellYancey Or it might well be a real prototype, but such a poor one that it wasn't even worth finishing.
    – Nic
    Jun 18, 2019 at 18:31
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    @NicHartley Or a non-functional design prototype. The sectioning of layers implies that it's a 3D equivalent to a cross-section diagram, showing how the proper shield is be constructed (either for a pitch meeting, or for a museum)
    – Chronocidal
    Jun 19, 2019 at 11:51

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