14 Fan Theories About Vibranium That Go Deep In The MCU

From Redditor u/Spomelo:

In recent episode of What if...? I noticed something. When Tony analysed Kilmonger's Vibranium ring, it showed the same hologram when Tony discovered his new element in Iron Man 2. Also Tony discovered it only thanks to his dad, who also worked with Vibranium. 

It's very possible that Howard tried to synthesize it but didn't have the technology, so he secretly [hid] his blueprints to Tony who later was able to create his new element, not knowing it was actually Vibranium.

From Redditor u/RyanS148:

So let's start with Vibranium. What do we know about it? It's strong, rare, and has a multitude of chemical properties. Its rarity is easily explained, as the only supply came from a meteor that came to Earth 10000 years ago. Its strength come from the fact that it absorbs vibrations. And as for the many chemical properties, it still remains unexplained. So let's start figuring it out. 

We know Vibranium is an element, as it is referred to as an element numerous times and listed with other elements in the quiz bowl session Peter Parker has on the bus in Homecoming ("Strontium, Barium, Vibranium"). The other two are group II elements or Alkaline Earth Metals, which has lead people to believe Vibranium is one as well. But based on its other properties, Vibranium simply couldn't be in group II. For 1, group II elements are highly reactive, and wouldn't be stable. 2, alkaline earth metals aren't found freely in nature, so if it was in group II, Wakanda wouldn't be mining it up, they would be synthesizing it in a lab. So Vibranium is found somewhere else on the periodic table. 

Based on the fact that it has many chemical properties, it is most likely as transition metal as they have electrons in their d-orbitals and have many different oxidation states (they can give up different amounts of electrons to react with different elements). Transition metals are also highly stable and are the metals we see daily (Iron, gold, silver, etc.). So it's a transition metal, but that doesn't explain its ability to absorb vibrations, as that ability come from structure, and transition metal atoms simply sit next to each with free flowing electrons, no ability to disperse vibrations. That ability would come from a crystal lattice structure, like diamond. And that got me thinking, as diamond is a network solid, meaning instead of being just a bunch of molecules coexisting, after the individual molecules form, they form bonds with the other molecules around it, which contributes to the diamonds strength. As you may or may not know diamonds are pure carbon, that form from being put under intense pressure and heat. But what has that got to do with Vibranium you may ask? Well entering our atmosphere on a meteor and crashing into the Earth would generate a lot of heat and pressure. So I theorise that Vibranium is a transition metal that has formed a network solid making it one of the strongest metals on Earth.​

So what about Adamantium? Its properties are more unknown, with the exception of being nearly indestructible. However, it is most likely not an element, as indicated by the line "There's a tricky thing about Adamantium. If you ever manage to process its raw, liquid form, you gotta keep it that way. Keep it hot. Because once the metal cools, it's indestructible" (X-2). Meaning that you can't simply mine it, it has to be made. Based on the fact that it is made by melting rather than another form of synthesis, and its incredible strength, it is most likely an alloy. But not just any alloy, an alloy that is part Vibranium. 

Now at first I wasn't going to say that because one strong metal makes another strong metal felt to easy, but then I remembered X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and in the beginning Team-X heads to Nigeria to find a fragment of a meteorite containing a rare metal (or to be exact a rare element). 

Let see… meteor containing rare metal in Africa, sounds like Vibranium, all right. This explains why Adamantium is so expensive and hard to make. So Vibranium takes care of one of its strengths impact strength (A material's ability to resist sudden force or impact without breaking or shattering) but Adamantium also has impressive yield strength (How well a material resists deformation or how much strength it takes to bend it). For this they would most likely use stainless steel do to it's abundance and impressive yield strength. 

Finally, I believe Iridium would be a component due to its high melting point and resistance to corrosion, which seem to be properties of Adamantium. Also Iridium is extremely rare, also contributing to Adamantium's expense and difficulty to make.

TL;DR: Vibranium is a transition metal that forms a network solid and Adamantium is an alloy comprised of Vibranium, Stainless Steel, and Iridium

From Redditor u/Maester_Chief_:

In Guardians of the Galaxy, we see the Collector detailing the origin of the Infinity Stones to the Guardians. We see the Power Stone placed in the staff of the Celestial, Eson the Searcher who then absolutely obliterates an entire planet with it. The telltale purple energy erupts from his staff and creates massive cracks in the ground, disintegrates the people running away, and is then shown to encapsulate the entire surface of the planet, destroying it. My theory posits that the meteor filled with Vibranium that landed in Wakanda was a shard/remnant from this planet.

It is obvious that Infinity Stones give off energy that matches their monochromatic theme. The yellow Mind Stone that Vision possesses shoots yellow energy beams. The green Time Stone manifests as a green circular rune around Dr. Strange's hands when messing with time travel. The Tessaract is blue, as is the beam that transported Red Skull away at the end of Captain America The First Avenger. I could go on.

We also know that the Infinity Stones can impart lasting powers, even when it is long gone in distance. Captain Marvel got her powers from the Space Stone/Light Speed Engine explosion. (Her photon beams are also blue-yellow to go with the above paragraph). Wanda and Pietro Maximoff got their powers from the Mind Stone manipulation in Sokovia.

So how does this tie in with Vibranium? Well we see time and again that the power stone emits purple energy. And what else does this? Black Panthers new Vibranium suit in his titular movie as it absorbs and re-emits energy. When we see the actual Vibranium meteor itself in the Black Panther opening, it is filled with a purplish-blue hue. When it strikes Wakanda, this meteor creates giant cracks in the ground that the purple-blue energy follows, just as with Eson the Searcher. 

Even the heart shaped herb, the plant that is imbued with the Vibranium's powers is purple. If that's not enough purple color, the ancestral plane is heavily soaked in a purple theme with purple cosmic lights in the background. My theory is that the planet that was destroyed by the Celestial with the Power Stone was imbued with (purple) energy from the Power Stone. Perhaps this energy interacted with particular metals in this planet's crust/core, or perhaps its journey through space also had it interact with certain heat/pressure/cosmic power to create Vibranium. But As the planet fell apart, pieces of its crust/core were jettisoned into space, with one piece hurtling towards planet Earth, set to change the course of the MCU forever.

From Redditor u/Parking-Mud-1848:

I think the secret of the Super Soldier Serum is Vibranium enriched plants. This is probably a super old theory so stop me if you’ve heard it before but thinking back to the first Black Panther… the heart shaped herb and the resultant elixir are directly related to Vibranium enriched soil. The Vibranium has some manner of chemical properties that enriched the plants that give the heart shaped herb the power to bestow incredible strength and speed.

Now to Captain America… Cap and Black Panther were routinely shown to be roughly of equivalent strength and speed. In Civil War they can both outrun cars and fight each other to a standstill due to near equal reflexes and strength. We know at the very least that the United States had access to at least enough Vibranium to make Steve’s shield. I don’t think it’s a tremendous stretch to assume that the Super Soldier formula might have at least been partially enriched in some way by Vibranium enriched plants or drugs given that they had enough of the stuff to study it’s properties, refine it, and form it into a shield.

The more modern version from Falcon and The Winter Soldier seemed to display the same properties as the original and was synthesized in a black market underground lab. There had to be at least a few grams of vibranium going around there especially considering Wakandan artifacts with vibranium in them turn up from time to time in museums and Eric Killmonger was able to find some without many resources fairly easily

This seems to be why the serum is extremely difficult to replicate. The actual process of synthesis isn’t that difficult, it’s the ingredients that are hard to come by

All people who gain abilities in this way seem to roughly be on the same strength level. Steve, Bucky, the Flag Smashers, John Walker and the Black Panther seem to all roughly have the same strength and speed and reflexes. No one who receives their powers in this way has Hulk-like strength or quicksilver like speed or can fly or something.

Also Talokan vibranium enriched herbs are explicitly shown to give powers in a similar, but slightly different way to the Talokan people, and might even have unintentionally caused Namor’s mutations

From Redditor u/Wolvenfire86:

The Collapse of the Bronze Age was kind of a big deal (historically speaking). Where during the Bronze Age, there was a abundance of trade, technological advancements, writing and literacy, its collapse caused a dark age right after that halted or ended those things.

(Note for my fellow history buffs: Yes I know the dark age at this time wasn't as bad as previous historians said it was but it still brought a slowing of technology and an a decrease in scientific thinking so for the sake of this theory I'm rolling with Dark Ages = bad)

What caused the Bronze Age to collapse is up for debate; there were probably multiple things, but we don't know officially what caused it.

But one contributing factor was The Sea People; raiders who popped out of the Mediterranean and wrecked havoc across multiple major cities.

In the Marvel Universe/timeline, those were Atlanteans.

Wakanda 1.) is heavily landlocked and 2.) had Vibranium, which means they were the only nation with weapons that could hold off Atlantean warriors. Everyone else was using bronze!

So while the west plummeted into a long period of darkness, Wakanda essentially skipped that and went from the Bronze age right to their age of antiquity (and possibly to their renaissance after instead of the middle ages)....and they did this with Vibranium!

They're 1000 years ahead of the rest of the current world because they skipped the (roughly) ~1000 years of darkness the rest of the known world went through.

More evidence is found in their old gods. Wakandan used to worship some Egyptian deities), which means they had access to Egypt during its height (which was the Bronze age) and they had active trade with them.

From Redditor u/Potatua:

This one is a shorter theory but the theory is that Vibranium weapons, if left in their victims (such as knives left in stab victims or bullets/other projectiles) keep their victims alive. 

My main evidence for this is when Agent Ross is shot in Black Panther. T'challa uses a kimoyo bead to stabilize him by inserting it into the wound. We also see in Age of Ultron, as explained by Helen Cho, that the Vibranium facilitates cellular and tissue generation. This means it would help the body heal. Furthermore, Shuri explains that Vibranium allowed her to heal Agent Ross's wound. So theoretically, Vibranium's healing properties would allow for a body containing it, such as one stabbed by Vibranium weapon if the weapon was left in, to stay alive longer than it would normally. 

What really made me think of this and the biggest contributor in terms of evidence, is Killmonger's death. He removes the Vibranium spear head from his chest and then keels over and dies. This heavily implies that the removal of the weapon led to his immediate death. It either pierced his heart, in which case he would died quickly unless the blade was keeping him alive through vibraniums healing properties, or it pierced his lungs, in which case he would have died slower as the knife would have kept him alive by preventing fluid from entering his lungs and it would have taken a lot longer than the two seconds it does for him to die. 

Therefore, he was likely kept alive through Vibranium's healing properties, meaning Vibranium weapons would keep targets alive [if left in place.]