With Captain America: Civil War hitting theaters — tomorrow! — both the MCU and the good ol’ real universe are rife with lines being drawn, allegiances being built, and sides being chosen. But Team Cap vs. Team Iron Man isn’t only about the fate of the Avengers and superheroes being super brutal to each other; it’s also about the tech those superheroes will use to be super brutal to each other. And what better way to figure out which side has the better gear than to have Grant Imahara and Allen Pan build and compare real-life versions of Iron Man’s gauntlet laser and Captain America’s shield?
Gizmodo recently reported on a brand new three-part build-and-test series — which is part of a larger collaboration between electronics supplier Mouser, and Marvel — and it features Grant Imahara (best known as one of the stars of Mythbusters), and Allen Pan (host of YouTube channel Sufficiently Advanced and maker of that super viral and super sweet video of folks trying to lift up an electronically rigged Thor’s hammer).
The last part of the three-part build-and-test (posted above) showcases the final fruits of Imahara and Pan’s labors by having Imahara and his Iron Man gauntlet laser and Pan and his Captain America shield go toe-to-toe in an effort to annihilate a trio of poor little balloons and garner points along the way.
And even though it’s awesome to watch real-life versions of the comic book gear we love in action, the build process is just as cool. Imahara used the most powerful “legal” laser he could possibly find for firepower, and had a 3D printer running around the clock for five days in order to build all of the pieces required to replicate the gauntlet. Pan on the other hand — literally! — used a drone, a large foam disc (with holes cut into it for airflow), and tons of fancy wiring so he could launch and control the shield’s movement using only his wrist.
The first two episodes of the three-part Mouser-Marvel “Heroes Project” can be found below. Although it doesn’t really help us to decide which team to pick since the whole deal ended in a tie. But the important thing is that gadgets were built, lasers were fired, and nobody was hurt except for some balloons — speaking of which, don’t try this at home, especially if it was recently somebody’s birthday or you live with a clown.
Now that you’ve seen Cap’s shield and Iron Man’s gauntlet laser go head to head, are you ready to change sides in the Civil War? Let us know your plan Stan (Lee) in the comments below!
And don’t miss Kyle Hill science the crap out of whether or not a lightsaber could destroy Cap’s shield:
Images: Mouser Electronics
