During Phases One and Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios produced a number of short films referred to as Marvel One-Shots. Each short explores fairly low-stakes stories that spin out from the events of several MCU films, namely The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers and Iron Man 3. The One-Shots helped to flesh out the everyday world of the MCU, giving the spotlight to parts of the world that the movies wouldn’t have time to address.
The short film that followed up The Avengers is entitled Item 47, and it features hapless couple Benny and Claire coming into possession of a Chitauri gun from the Battle of New York. They use it to go on a crime spree but are hunted down by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Felix Blake and Jasper Sitwell. But after defeating them in a fight, rather than killing the couple, Sitwell recruits Benny and Claire to S.H.I.E.L.D.
S.H.I.E.L.D. has been known to bring on targets as agents, as proven by Hawkeye’s recruitment of Black Widow, so Sitwell’s offer to Benny and Claire makes some sense. However, Black Widow was a highly-trained and deadly assassin, while Benny and Claire are bumbling bank robbers, and that distinction makes one wonder why Sitwell would go to the effort to bring in such low-level criminals.
Well, this mystery is solved by Captain America: The Winter Soldier‘s big reveal that Sitwell and a large number of other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are secretly members of the terrorist group Hydra. If Hydra was trying to grow its membership, it would surely want hires who didn’t have much devotion to the organization. For this reason, ordinary people like Benny and Claire would be easy to manipulate, especially considering Sitwell was the one who spared their lives. While this setup may not have been explicit, in hindsight it only adds to the sense that Hydra had been sowing the seeds to tear S.H.I.E.L.D. apart for a long time.
The One-Shots themselves haven’t been directly referenced in the MCU’s film installments, but Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was reportedly given the green light after Disney CEO Bob Iger watched Item 47. This means the MCU’s first television series may never have seen the light of day without the Marvel One-Shots. And while Item 47 subtly sets up Hydra’s infiltration, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. goes on to show its effects in great detail.
The last short to be produced was 2014’s All Hail the King, which followed up on Trevor Slattery’s time in prison after his arrest in Iron Man 3. Slattery has since been confirmed to return in the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, so it seems that Marvel has not forgotten the One-Shots and is still looking for ways to incorporate them into the MCU.
Additionally, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D’Esposito confirmed in 2018 that Disney wants Marvel to do more One-Shots. This confirms that there is still interest in them from studio executives, and D’Esposito went on to reveal that the only reason they haven’t happened yet is the lack of time from Marvel Studios. If this was the case in 2018, then there’s no doubt Marvel Studios is even busier in 2021, but considering the One-Shots are remembered fondly by fans and creators alike, it’s possible they find their way back into the ever-expanding franchise.
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