Marvel is doing some clever cross promotion in their films! It looks like Marvel is thinking ahead; way ahead.. If you are one of those who pay attention to every little detail to be seen in a movie, such as one who is brilliantly autistic, you might have noticed a small bit of hardware in Iron Man..

Marvel has it in mind to bridge the gap between Tony Stark / Iron Man, Captain America, Incredible Hulk and The Avengers.. For one - take a look at the image below.. See anything of interest? Well, I didn’t either ( At first ), but take a look the left side of the picture underneath Stark’s arm and you will see Captain America’s shield … in the making..

The scene in which you can see the shield is after returns from Afghanistan after fighting with the Mark III red / gold armor for the very first time.. Right after he fights the two F - 22 fighter jets, it shows him back in his lab trying to remove his armor but having trouble.. Right as Pepper Potts walks down into his lab and asks him ” what is he doing?”, the shield can be seen sitting on one of his tables behind him in the lower left corner.. Favreau’s camp has not confirmed this yet..

If my comic history is correct, Captain America was actually given his round shield from the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization when he was found in modern times, which could make sense in this universe.. Maybe Tony Stark has been building a shield, for whatever reasons, and eventually S.H.I.E.L.D., who was revealed at the end of the movie, will find out about it at a future point and suggest they give it to Captain America for his use.. And this means maybe it will involve some sort of awesome Tony Stark technology instead of just being a metal object he throws around.. How about that for a concept?

The shield is actually red, white, and blue, although you can’t see the red clearly in the photo.. But if you see the scene in the theater, the shield is actually there and very identifiable.. It looks like it is half - constructed and being built by Tony Stark, but you can definitely see the unique star.. It is a round shield with circular red, white, and blue stripes.. What does this mean?

In other Marvel crossovers, a whole crop of new images from The Incredible Hulk have hit the net, including the one above showing an assistant ( Tim Blake Nelson ) holding the super serum that’s eventually injected into Tim Roth ( Which, of course, gave him super powers and turned him into Abomination ).. Ah, but those of you who attended or watched the New York Comic Con, were told that this serum is, in fact, the same kind used to create Captain America.. I remembered something being brought up about this at the panel for The Incredible Hulk at the New York Comic Con last month.. So, I went through the video and sure enough, producer Kevin Feige confirms to the crowd, which had just been shown footage of the film, that the serum is a Captain America reference.. Feige went on to say..

“Did you guys see the color of the serum? It’s Captain America’s color.. So there you go..”

Holding the blue serum in the photo is Tim Nelson Blake as Samuel Sterns in human form.. In the comics, Sterns is a janitor at the lab where Dr. Banner works, which is where he too is exposed to gamma radiation and becomes the Hulk’s nemesis, The Leader..

Not only can you spot Cap’s shield in the Iron Man movie, but it turns out that the Incredible Hulk movie will set up the super soldier storyline - prepping the origin story for the Captain America movie!

In the Hulk movie, General Ross will talk about a super soldier project begun during WW2, and show the blue ” super soldier serum ” used to create the all - American hero.. Note how this serum is a patriotic blue rather than the gamma green that Blonsky, a.k.a. The Abomination gets injected with..

Pretty damn smart of Marvel, huh? This kind of forward thinking is going to guarantee good comic book movies for several years.. Marvel may just have started another golden age for their characters onscreen..

Now all this could confuse comic fans.. Fans of Marvel would know by now that Iron Man was based around the Vietnam War, Incredible Hulk was based in early 60’s too and Captain America was based around World War II.. So your question probably is, how can there be links between them all? Well as we have see, the movies are based in modern times.. It means changing storylines and origins slightly to fit in together.. Captain America fought in the War and was then put into suspended animation until the modern day.. Re - awakened in a strange new world..

Last month, MTV spoke with Downey, who confirmed to them that his Iron Man character Tony Stark would be making a cameo in the upcoming The Incredible Hulk movie..

In the scene, which appears in the trailer after the credits, Stark enters a bar and approaches William Hurt’s General Thaddeus Ross, an adversary of Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk.. They exchange a few words, something about “ stale beer ” and how Stark always has the nicest suits ( The audience at the Con was screaming so loudly it was hard to hear what was said ).. Here’s how the rest of the scene plays out:

Stark: “ I hear you have an unusual problem..”

Ross: “ You should talk..”

Stark: “ You should listen..”

Cue more intense screams from the audience..

In the MTV interview, Downey had said that when he approaches Ross, he finds him “ in despair,” and Ross certainly does look that way in the footage.. Downey also said that Stark and Ross “ may be considering going into some sort of limited partnership together..”

Of course all this is related to Marvel announcing last week the release date for First Avenger: Captain America ( Working title ) as 6th May, 2011, as well as a second Avengers movie due in July 2011..

Nick Cassavetes ( Alpha Dog, The Notebook ) is rumored to direct the project with a script by Zak Penn - the writer of practically every other Marvel film in existence..

But, who will play Steve Rogers, the brave volunteer who took on the Nazis as part of the Super Soldier program? Matthew McConaughey is the rumor that won’t go away.. But, many fans wonder if he’s too old - or too bizarre - to pull off the All - American character.. The shield - throwing Cap’ was never caught playing bongos in the nude sky - high on the laughing tree.. Matthew McConaughey may be one of the names at the top of the list - perhaps placed there by the fact that the actor’s name has often been at the top of fan polls for their pick of who to play the character..

Physically, McConaughey fits the bill for the character perfectly.. He’s blonde - haired, blue - eyed, square - jawed and buff.. What makes this a bit more uncertain is McConaughey’s acting history and public persona.. The actor is known for being laid-back and, well, ” dirty ” - hardly the embodiment of the American Dream that Cap is supposed to be..

On the other hand, Captain America has often been criticized for being too clean - cut and patriotic, and being out - of - touch and inaccessible to modern fans.. So perhaps McConaughey would be able to breathe excitement into the role for The First Avenger: Captain America..

It should be noted that this is still rumor at this point - McConaughey’s name is at the top of the list being considered, but nothing has been signed or confirmed at this point..

In the comics, Captain America is actually Steve Rogers, a patriotic young man during the days of World War II who was rejected by the army for being physically unfit.. Officials were so impressed with the young man’s enthusiasm that they enlisted him in a top - secret Super Soldier program to transform him into the pinnacle of human fitness.. Transformed, Captain America fought in the War and was then put into suspended animation until the modern day.. Re - awakened in a strange new world, Cap still fights for truth and justice and the American way as the leader of the Avengers..

The character remains one of the few of Marvel’s most popular characters yet to have been turned into a feature film ( Not including the odious 1990 low - budget direct - to - video feature ).. In many ways it still faces much difficulty due to the nature of the uber - patriotic character in a modern post - Iraq world which has become far more critical of America’s involvement on the global stage than ever before..

The solution seems to be repositioning the character and placing the emphasis on his role as the leader of ‘ The Avengers..’ The character will team up with Iron Man, Hulk and Thor in that film opening a few weeks later in July 2011..

At present Captain America: First Avenger is slated for a 6th May 2011 release, with the project looking for a writer, director and star.. As well as a second Avengers movie due in July 2011.. The Incredible Hulk will be smashing its way into theaters from 13th June 2008, while Iron Man is out now..

Discuss: What do you think of the Marvel crossovers?