VIDEO: Agent Coulson Bridges Marvel Gaps in One-Shot Short The Consultant

Here's a treat for Marvel fans who live for the film-bridging post-credits scenes and cameos that have connected The Incredible Hulk, the Iron Man films, Thor, and Captain America: a short starring S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) that begins to fill in the space between the different Marvel films leading into The Avengers. After the jump, watch the deadpan Agent Coulson hatch a plan to dispatch a superhero code-named "The Consultant" -- described as "arrogant and abrasive, with an utter disdain for authority." Sound familiar?

The below clip is part of the Marvel One-Shot: The Consultant short film that can be found on the Thor Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D release (out Sept. 13), which takes place "sometime after the plots of Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Incredible Hulk, but before Marvel's The Avengers." It includes references to General Ross and Emil Blonsky a/k/a Abomination (William Hurt and Tim Roth in The Incredible Hulk if your memory fails), and an individual you can only guess is none other than Tony Stark.

A second Marvel One-Shot short (release date TBA) also starring Agent Coulson, entitled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer..., details Coulson's experiences between the end of Iron Man and the beginning of Thor. Both shorts are helmed by directing team Leythum, written by Eric Pearson and scored by DJ Paul Oakenfold.

Over at Marvel, Gregg teased what's to come in the full shorts:

"I was in the process of getting myself in fighting shape for The Avengers, so to find Agent Coulson in a situation where he might be involved in close quarters combat was exciting to me."

"[Coulson finds himself in a situation] where there is an imminent threat and no super heroes around. I was chomping at the bit for that, so I was definitely pumped for that moment to happen.

"In one of them there's a daily crisis [in which] a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent deals with the World Security Council and one of our super heroes. To explore some of that stuff that connects the various movies I found very exciting as a fanboy at heart."

· Marvel One-Shots: Expanding the Cinematic Universe [Marvel]