Marvel One-Shots

Marvel One-Shots
File:Item 47.jpg Comic-Con poster for Item 47
Directed by	Leythum Louis D’Esposito Drew Pearce
Screenplay by	Eric Pearson Drew Pearce
Produced by	Kevin Feige Mick Ebeling
Starring	See below
Cinematography	David Myrick
Edited by	Gabriel Britz David Brodie
Music by	Paul Oakenfold Howard Drossin
Production company	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Home Media Distribution (2011) Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2012–present)
Running time	4–14 minutes each
Country	United States
Language	English

Marvel One-Shots are a series of direct-to-video short films produced by Marvel Studios, set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They are included as special features in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film's Blu-ray releases. The short films are exclusive to the Blu-ray releases and are not included on the DVDs.

The first two films star Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, and offer up self-contained stories about a day in the life of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The third film stars Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Bradford as a down-on-their-luck couple who find a discarded Chitauri gun. The fourth film stars Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger. The fifth film stars Ben Kingsley as Trevor Slattery after the events of Iron Man 3.

Development

In August 2011, Marvel announced a couple of short films would be released direct-to-video. Co-producer Brad Winderbaum said "It's a fun way to experiment with new characters and ideas, but more importantly it's a way for us to expand the Marvel Cinematic Universe and tell stories that live outside the plot of our features." The first two films were made in conjunction with The Ebeling Group, being directed by animation supervisor Leythum.

Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito reiterating this idea stating that the goal of Item 47 was to "expand the world and show you the more human elements of it". He continued that Marvel is wrestling with the idea of introducing established characters who may not yet be ready to carry their own feature films in future One-Shots, "There’s always a potential to introduce a character. We have 8,000 of them, and they can’t all be at the same level. So maybe there are some that are not so popular, and we introduce them [with a short] – and they take off. I could see that happening".

In July 2013, D’Esposito said he considered making stand-alone shorts for several characters, including Loki, a young Nick Fury, and Black Panther. Regarding Loki, D’Esposito said "Being on Asgard is very difficult for us to do in a short. It’s just impossible for us cost wise. The short would be 30 seconds, and it’s over. One shot of Loki on Asgard." On Fury and Black Panther, he remarked "It’s very complicated to do: who plays those characters? And designing the costume, getting it going … We tried. We were there in development, and we tried, but they were very difficult for all the reasons I gave. And we don’t want to do something that’s half baked because it’s not good for us and it’s not good for our fans." During the Agent Carter panel at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, D'Esposito stated it is being considered to bring the shorts to the theaters, appearing before features.

Films

The Consultant (2011)

At the San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced that The Consultant would appear exclusively on the Thor Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D. On September 1, 2011, The Consultant leaked in the form of a Twitter video and had the full film, including credits. It was directed by Leythum and written by Eric Pearson, with music by Paul Oakenfold. It features shots from the 2008 film The Incredible Hulk, including a shot of the Abomination and part of the final scene.

Agent Coulson informs Agent Sitwell that the World Security Council wishes Emil Blonsky released from prison to join the Avengers Initiative. They see him as a war hero and blame the devastation in New York City on Bruce Banner. The Council orders them to send an agent to ask General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross to release Blonsky into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. As Nick Fury doesn't want to release Blonsky, the two agents decide to send a patsy to sabotage the meeting. At Sitwell's urging, Coulson reluctantly sends the consultant: Tony Stark. As partially depicted in the post-credits scene of The Incredible Hulk, a disgraced Ross sits drinking in a bar, when he is approached by Stark, who annoys Ross so much that he tries to have Stark removed from the bar. In reply, Stark buys the bar and has it scheduled for demolition. The next day, Coulson informs Sitwell that their plan worked, and that Blonsky will remain in prison.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer (2011)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer was included on the Captain America: The First Avenger Blu-ray release on October 25, 2011. It was directed by Leythum and written by Eric Pearson, with music by Paul Oakenfold.

Phil Coulson stops at a gas station on his way to Albuquerque, New Mexico. While Coulson shops for snacks in the back of the station, two robbers enter and demand the money from the register. When the robbers ask whose car is outside, Coulson exposes himself, surrenders his keys, and offers to surrender his pistol as well. As he is about to turn over the gun, Coulson distracts the robbers and subdues both men in seconds. He then nonchalantly pays for his snacks while subtly advising the clerk not to mention his involvement and leaves the station.

Item 47 (2012)

Item 47 was released on The Avengers Blu-ray from August 29, 2012 in various markets and September 25, 2012 in the United States. It was directed by Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito and written by Eric Pearson. The film has a runtime of 12 minutes, longer than the previous films, which were no longer than 4 minutes.

Bennie and Claire, a down-on-their-luck couple find a discarded Chitauri gun referred to as 'Item 47' and use it to rob a few banks. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Sitwell and Blake are assigned to retrieve the weapon and "neutralize" the couple. During the mission briefing, the Sitwell and Blake reminisce about the recently deceased Agent Coulson. Sitwell tracks the couple down to a motel room, which is wrecked in the subsequent confrontation with all the stolen money blown to pieces. Instead of killing the couple, Sitwell invites the couple to join S.H.I.E.L.D.; with Bennie assigned to the R&D 'think-tank' to reverse engineer the Chitauri technology, and Claire becoming Blake's assistant.

Agent Carter (2013)

Agent Carter was released on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray release on September 24, 2013, as well as part of the HD digital stream and download of the same available through certain outlets such as Amazon on September 3, 2013, starring Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter. It was directed by Louis D’Esposito.

The film takes place one year after the events of Captain America: The First Avenger, in which Agent Carter, now a member of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, is stuck compiling data instead of working field cases. One night while alone in the office, the case line rings, informing Carter of the location of the mysterious Zodiac. She goes to the location, and is able to retrieve the serum single-handily. The next day, her misogynistic boss, Agent Flynn, reprimands hers for not going through the proper procedures to complete the mission. As Flynn heads to his office, the case line rings, with Howard Stark on the other end. He tells Flynn to inform Carter that she will co-head the newly created S.H.I.E.L.D. and that Flynn must personally assist Carter with her things. In a mid-credit scene, Dum Dum Dugan is seen poolside with Stark, marveling at two women wearing the newly created bikinis.

All Hail the King (2014)

All Hail The King is scheduled to be released on February 25, 2014 with the Blu-ray release of Thor: The Dark World. The film stars Ben Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery from Iron Man 3 and was written and directed by Drew Pearce, the co-screenwriter of Iron Man 3.

Cast and characters

Further information: List of Marvel Cinematic Universe cast members

List indicator(s)

• A dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film.
• A ^V indicates a voice-only role
• An ^A indicates the actor or actress appears via archived footage from previous films.

Character	The Consultant	A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer	Item 47	Agent Carter	All Hail the King
Phil Coulson	Clark Gregg
Jasper Sitwell	Maximiliano Hernández		Maximiliano Hernández
Night Waitress	Deborah Knox
Tony Stark The Consultant	Robert Downey, Jr.A
General Ross	William HurtA
Emil Blonsky The Abomination	Tim RothA V
Clerk		Jessica Manuel
Robber 1		Jeff Prewett
Robber 2		Zach Hudson
Bennie			Jesse Bradford
Claire			Lizzy Caplan
Agent Blake			Titus Welliver
Peggy Carter				Hayley Atwell
Howard Stark				Dominic Cooper
Agent Flynn				Bradley Whitford
Dum Dum Dugan				Neal McDonough
Steve Rogers Captain America				Chris EvansA
Disembodied Voice				Shane BlackV
Trevor Slattery					Ben Kingsley

External links

• Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant at IMDb
• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer at IMDb
• Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 at IMDb
• Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter at IMDb