Marvel One-Shots

Marvel One-Shots
Comic-Con poster for Item 47
Directed by	See below
Produced by	See below
Screenplay by	See below
Based on	Characters published  by Marvel Comics
Starring	See below
Studio	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Paramount Home Media Distribution (2011) Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (2012–present)
Release dates	2011–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 (MCU). They are included as special features in the MCU film's Blu-ray and digital distribution releases, and are not included on the DVDs.

The first two films star Clark Gregg as Agent 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 after the events of The Avengers. 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 Leythum and written by Eric Pearson.^[1]

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, saying, "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".^[2]

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."^[3] 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.^[4]

In October 2013, Ben Kingsley said he was working on a secret project with Marvel involving "many members of the crew that were involved in Iron Man 3,"^[5] later revealed to be the short, All Hail the King.^[6] In a February 2014 interview with Total Film, Drew Pearce mentioned other shorts that he wrote that never came to fruition including ones based on Sin, Crossbones and Damage Control.^[7]

Films

The Consultant (2011)

At the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel announced that The Consultant would appear exclusively on the Thor Blu-ray release on September 13, 2011. It was directed by Leythum and written by Eric Pearson, with music by Paul Oakenfold.^[1] Clark Gregg and Maximiliano Hernández return to portray Agent Phil Coulson and Agent Jasper Sitwell, respectively, from the films.^[1][9] They are joined via archive footage by Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark / The Consultant, William Hurt as General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky in his Abomination form.^[9] Co-producer Brian Winderbaum said the producers "wanted to paint a picture of S.H.I.E.L.D. pulling the strings and being responsible for some of the events seen in the films. What better character to represent this idea than Agent Coulson, the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agent we were introduced to in the first Iron Man film?"^[1]

Set after the events of Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk,^[1] Phil Coulson informs Jasper 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 does not 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.^[10] It was directed by Leythum and written by Eric Pearson, with music by Paul Oakenfold. The short stars Clark Gregg reprising his role as Agent Phil Coulson.^[1]

Set before the events of Thor,^[1] 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 Marvel's The Avengers Blu-ray on September 25, 2012. The film stars Jesse Bradford and Lizzy Caplan as Bennie and Claire, respectively. The film also sees the return of Agent Sitwell, played by Maximiliano Hernández, and introduced Agent Blake, portrayed by Titus Welliver. 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.^[2]

Bennie and Claire, a down-on-their-luck couple find a discarded Chitauri gun ("Item 47") left over from the attack on New York City in The Avengers. The couple use it to rob a few banks, which draws the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Sitwell and Blake are assigned to retrieve the weapon and "neutralize" the couple. Agent 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 them 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, released on the Iron Man 3 Blu-ray release on September 24, 2013, as well as part of digital download release on September 3, 2013, sees Hayley Atwell reprise her role as Peggy Carter.^[11] The short also sees Dominic Cooper and Neal McDonough reprise their roles as Howard Stark and Dum Dum Dugan, respectively, Chris Evans via archive footage as Steve Rogers / Captain America, and introduces Bradley Whitford as Agent Flynn and Shane Black as the Disembodied Voice.^[12] It was directed by Louis D’Esposito and written by Eric Pearson.^[8]

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 her for not going through the proper procedures to complete the mission. As Flynn heads to his office, the case line rings, this time 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. Dugan asks Stark if he created them, to which Stark replies "the French".

All Hail the King (2014)

All Hail The King was released on the digital download release of Thor: The Dark World on February 4, 2014, and is scheduled for release on February 25, 2014 for the Blu-ray release.^[13] The film stars Ben Kingsley reprising his role as Trevor Slattery from Iron Man 3, with Scoot McNairy as a documentary filmmaker who’s putting together a piece about the aftermath of the Mandarin situation. The short is written and directed by Drew Pearce, the co-screenwriter of Iron Man 3.^[6]

Trevor Slattery, having been captured at the end of Iron Man 3, is now being held in Seagate Prison, when he is approached by a documentary filmmaker looking to chronicle the aftermath of Tony Stark's latest escapades. The documentary eventually begins to delve into Slattery's past, as well trying to figure out if the actual Ten Rings terrorist cell is really out there, and if they are targeting Slattery for making a mockery of their organization.^[6]

Cast and characters

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.

Reception

Cindy White of IGN called The Consultant "intriguing" and said, "The snappy dialogue seems to fit right in with what we expect from a Joss Whedon-ized Avengers movie."^[9] Scott Chitwood of ComingSoon.net said, "Considering a third of this is a rehash of an old bonus scene and the other 2/3 is Coulson sitting and having a chat, this is a pretty big disappointment."^[14]

R.L. Shaffer of IGN called A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer "fun".^[15] Zachary Scheer of Cinema Blend said, "The short is as hackneyed as that title. It's about four minutes of Coulson being a badass, if the definition of 'badass' is "performing needless slow-motion action stunts and then pausing to consider something normal people would consider -- like which donuts to buy."^[16]

Andre Dellamorte of Collider called Item 47 "silly".^[17] William Bibbiani of Crave Online said, "The short is largely a success: [Maximiliano] Hernandez, [Jesse] Bradford and [Lizzy] Kaplan are all in fine form although, [Titus] Welliver seems saddled with a little awkward dialogue, particularly in regards to Coulson, which doesn’t entirely sell."^[18] Spencer Terry of Superhero Hype! said, "[Item 47] is easily the best one they've done, and I think that can be attributed to its length seeing as it's three times longer than the other One-Shots. With a longer run time, the short film doesn't have to rush to show us everything that it wants to - we get a clear understanding of both the S.H.I.E.L.D. perspective of the events and the robbers' point of view."^[19]

Andy Hunsaker of Crave Online said, "Agent Carter is a fun treat which could lead the way for some female-led Marvel films and, if nothing else, it gives its title character the send-off she deserves."^[20] Scott Collura of IGN said, "Atwell's Carter is the big-screen female superhero we've all been waiting for. She kicks so much ass in this short story with such aplomb, using not just brawn but also brains, and it's all very clever and fun."^[21] Rosie Fletcher of Total Film said, "Atwell makes a perfect femme fatale-come-special agent, and this '40s noir-style short looks great and packs some euphoric action moments."^[22]

References

External links

• Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant at the Internet Movie Database
• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer at the Internet Movie Database
• Marvel One-Shot: Item 47 at the Internet Movie Database
• Marvel One-Shot: Agent Carter at the Internet Movie Database
• Marvel One-Shot: All Hail the King at the Internet Movie Database