--- title: Here's How Much It Would Cost To Be Captain America description: It's all about the shield canonical: https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-19T19:26:45.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:42.453Z og:title: Here's How Much It Would Cost to Be Captain America og:description: It's all about the shield og:url: https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83c43391a35acdd5/69888fc4428a9e5caecd24a1/captain-america.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3278 og:image:height: 1844 og:image:alt: captain-america og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How Much It Would Cost to Be Captain America twitter:description: It's all about the shield twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83c43391a35acdd5/69888fc4428a9e5caecd24a1/captain-america.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's How Much It Would Cost to Be Captain America > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=9a0a0d0f-1db4-4687-8d82-984727b0c7f9&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The High Cost of Being Batman [Watch (HLS stream): The High Cost of Being Batman](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/omF4kTMP.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2016-03-25. Taking a look at how Bruce Wayne spends his money._ by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 19, 2016 7:26 PM UTC  Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War. Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Apr 19, 2016 7:26 PM UTC Have you ever wondered how much it cost for Steve Rogers to become [Captain America](http://time.com/3001241/marvel-captain-america-black/?iid=sr-link1)? According to a new—and very detailed—[infographic](http://www.twizzle.co.uk/how-much-would-it-cost-to-be-captain-america/), the cost of becoming the greatest American hero comes in at a whopping $55,114,220. The first step in Rogers’s transformation from Average American Soldier into a super patriotic superhero was Project Rebirth, a scientific experiment that today conservatively cost around $516,000\. The uniform is worth an estimated $3,720 (far [less than Darth Vader’s costume](http://time.com/4294289/darth-vader-suit-cost/?iid=sr-link4)), a standard issue military firearm runs about $900 and the 2014 Harley-Davidson 750 motorcycle that he rode in both [_Captain America: The Winter Soldier_](http://time.com/49893/captain-america-winter-soldier-trivia/?iid=sr-link5)and _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ costs about $7,500. The element that puts [Captain America](http://time.com/3999562/marvel-captain-america-civil-war-footage/?iid=sr-link3)‘s accoutrements into the stratospheric price range, though, is his shield. Dr. Myron MacLain made the Captain’s shield out of an iron and [vibranium](http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Vibranium) alloy, which is virtually indestructible (that’s why [Black Panther’s](http://time.com/4281426/ta-nehisi-coates-black-panther-marvel/) suit is made out of it, as well). Vibranium is a completely fictional, yet incredibly expensive material. As the infographic points out, in issue 607 of the Fantastic Four, it was priced at $10,000 gram. Considering Captain America’s shield weighs in at 12 pounds, that means it is worth a whopping $54 million (a.k.a. more than the [GDP of Tuvalu!](http://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-gdp.php)). Good thing it’s indestructible, because Captain America would need one heck of a Kickstarter to buy a new one. While $55,114,220 is a lot of money, considering how many times Captain America has saved the planet from destruction, it’s still a good investment. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/"},"headline":"Here's How Much It Would Cost to Be Captain America","datePublished":"2016-04-19T19:26:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:47:42.453Z","description":"It's all about the shield","url":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/","keywords":["Newsfeed","movies","Marvel","comic books","Superheroes"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83c43391a35acdd5/69888fc4428a9e5caecd24a1/captain-america.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt83c43391a35acdd5/69888fc4428a9e5caecd24a1/captain-america.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"captain-america","caption":"Chris Evans in Captain America: Civil War.","creditText":"Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/","name":"Here's How Much It Would Cost to Be Captain America"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The High Cost of Being Batman","description":"Taking a look at how Bruce Wayne spends his money.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/omF4kTMP/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-03-25T16:34:09.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/omF4kTMP.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4299373/captain-america-cost/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```