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SYFY WIRE Avengers: Endgame

MIT students play their own Endgame and supersize Captain America’s shield onto school’s dome

By Benjamin Bullard
Chris Evans as Captain America

It takes a lot to impress Cap. When you’ve come face to face with Thanos, lived more than one lifetime while the world changes around you, and lost some good friends along the way, you’d think there wouldn’t be much left that could make the First Avenger do a double-take. 

But even Chris Evans couldn't help but notice when a handful of secretive Avengers: Endgame fans at MIT pulled off a super-sized Captain America caper in Boston over the weekend. While the rest of the city slept, the mystery group stealthily supersized Cap's iconic shield (think Ant-Man style) and put it where it couldn’t be missed: atop MIT’s landmark Great Dome. Get these fans a shield!

Evans — himself a Boston-area native — took to social media to offer the Cap’s thumbs-up: 

According to the Boston Globe story that Evans retweeted, the stunt took some serious planning to figure out a way to give birds, planes, and maybe even aliens a primo view of their favorite MCU hero. One member of the stealth tribute team told the newspaper it took “dozens” of people months of work to bring the whole thing together.

“The hacker, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the secretive nature of the pranks, said the current generation of MIT students grew up with the Avengers franchise, and that the shield was a symbol of their gratitude toward the series,” the Globe reported, noting that the project began “about a year ago” once the follow-up to Avengers: Infinity War had been announced.

It’s not the first time MIT’s Great Dome has been the target of an epic sci-fi tribute — R2-D2’s noggin’ graced the dome in a Star Wars-flavored stunt two decades back — and this time, it looks as though school officials were game enough to let the shield stick around, at least for a day or two, after it reportedly first appeared overnight Saturday. 

MIT R2-D2 dome

The shield may be the perfect symbol to honor Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but nothing can protect you from the deluge of tears you’ll be fighting all the way to the very end of Endgame’s emotional roller coaster. Marvel’s record-shattering finale to an epic 10-year, 22-movie run is now assembling fans and breaking box office records in theaters everywhere.