Great Dome transformed into Captain America’s shield
Anonymous hacker says planning began a year ago
In honor of the release of Avengers: Endgame, hackers transformed the top of the Great Dome into a giant replica of Captain America’s shield Saturday night. The hack remained in place until Monday.
A hacker, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Tech in an interview that around 40 people were involved in the process, beginning with the idea being conceived around a year ago. The hacker said they alone had put in about 300 hours for the project.
When asked about the reason for choosing the Captain America shield, a second anonymous hacker explained in an interview with The Tech that they needed a symbol of the Avengers series, and the shield was an almost universally recognized one. The hacker also said the details of the expedition were secret, but the deployment of the shield was “23 minutes behind.”
The first hacker said that one of the best parts about the project was seeing how it influenced other people. “A lot of people in my dorm saw it. It really lifted their spirits,” they continued, expressing that the hack was intended to be a symbol of appreciation for the Avengers series and a reminder of “how influential a silly movie series could be for a ton of different people.”
Chris Evans, the actor who plays Captain America in the film, retweeted an article about the hack on Monday morning with the caption, “Very cool!”
The first hacker quipped, “I love that Chris Evans thinks I’m cool. I’m putting that on my resume.”
“MIT has a beautiful hacking culture. It’s really nice to share that with people. … Every hacker wants to show the world something and wants to do that in a way that’s safe and memorable,” the first hacker said.
In 2016, a small model of Captain America’s shield previously appeared on the side of the Great Dome to coincide with the release of Captain America: Civil War, along with an Iron Man helmet on the Alchemist statue.
When asked if they had anything planned next, the first hacker said, “I plan to sleep.”