The Marvel Cinematic Universe has no shortage of supplementary content for die-hard fans to enjoy in addition to its large-scale movies and variety of Disney+ limited series. However, audiences often forget about the franchise's series of one-shot short films that provide interesting background for several MCU films from Phase 1 and Phase 2.
While Marvel Studios hasn't made any one-shots in the last few years, these shorts are actually very important to the fabric of the larger universe. From the action-heavy Agent Carter to the dialogue-driven The Consultant, each one-shot deserves some attention from MCU fans.
6 Agent Carter
Agent Carter is a one-shot set in the aftermath of World War II, following Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) as she adjusts to her new role at the Strategic Scientific Reserve. Still dealing with the trauma of Steve Rogers's apparent death at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, Carter distracts herself with a hunt for the mysterious Zodiac Key. No longer willing to put up with the sexism she faces in the office, Carter takes it upon herself to locate the Zodiac Key and take down the enemy combatants seeking to find it first.
Agent Carter gives Atwell's fan-favorite character much more room to breathe, fleshing her out in such a way that audiences get to know her far better than they did in The First Avenger. The one-shot, which was released alongside Iron Man 3 in 2013, proved to be quite successful in terms of impacting the overall MCU. After the success of her one-shot, Peggy Carter eventually received her own MCU spinoff in Agent Carter, which ran for two seasons on ABC.
5 A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer is an interesting aside from the typical larger storylines of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Released alongside Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011, this short film takes place just before the events of Thor. It follows SHIELD agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) as he uses his advanced spy skills to foil a would-be robbery at a New Mexico gas station.
This one-shot marked the most that audiences had seen of Phil Coulson yet, despite his previous appearances throughout Phase 1 of the MCU. It wasn't long before Coulson became a fan favorite, leading to meatier roles in Thor and The Avengers. Despite his death at the hands of Loki, Coulson eventually returned for his own spinoff series, Agents of SHIELD, which ran for seven seasons on ABC and is widely praised by Marvel fans to this day.
4 The Consultant
The Consultant was the very first one-shot released by Marvel Studios, though it is the third in the MCU's chronology. The short film, which accompanied the release of Thor in 2011, depicts a conversation between SHIELD agents Phil Coulson and Jasper Sitwell (Maximiliano Hernandez) in a diner. They discuss the events of The Incredible Hulk and SHIELD's proposal to recruit the Abomination and not the Hulk for the Avengers Initiative.
Phil Coulson became essential to the MCU in scenes like this, bridging together different storylines from various films therein. This one-shot was actually designed to taper over a plot hole in Phase 1, which was created by The Incredible Hulk's post-credit scene depicting Tony Stark approaching General Thaddeus Ross in a bar. Since it didn't really make sense for Stark to be recruiting the Hulk, who Ross had no access to, The Consultant reveals that he was actually sent to recruit the Abomination, who was in Ross's custody. This, however, was a ruse by Coulson and Sitwell, who knew that Stark and Ross's egos would inevitably clash and leave them unable to broker a deal--keeping the villainous Abomination far away from the Avengers Initiative.
3 Item 47
Item 47 is a Marvel one-shot that was released alongside The Avengers in 2012. The short film takes place shortly after the Battle of New York and follows two citizens who stumble upon a piece of Chitauri technology in the aftermath. They use the alien tech to aid them in committing crimes across the state, eventually alerting SHIELD Agent Jasper Sitwell to their mischief.
Unlike some of the other one-shots released by Marvel Studios, Item 47 doesn't feature any major characters from the MCU films with the exception of Sitwell. Nevertheless, it did feature an appearance from Titus Welliver as Felix Blake, a prominent SHIELD agent who would return for several episodes of Agents of SHIELD. The plot of the one-shot also closely resembles Adrian Toomes's team in Spider-Man: Homecoming, who also repurposed Chitauri technology for their own nefarious purposes.
2 All Hail The King
All Hail the King is a one-shot that accompanied the home release of Thor: The Dark World in 2014. The short film follows Trevor Slattery (Ben Kingsley) after his arrest during the events of Iron Man 3. Slattery, who had posed as the Mandarin, navigates his new life in prison and eventually agrees to give an interview with a reporter--who is eventually revealed to be an agent of the Ten Rings and the real Mandarin.
All Hail the King most likely entered production as a way of assuring angry fans that the Mandarin fake-out in Iron Man 3 didn't negate the villain's existence in the MCU. While the one-shot promised his appearance, the real Mandarin didn't show up until Shang-Chi, seven years after the short film was released. Slattery also returned as a supporting character in Shang-Chi and is rumored to make another appearance in the upcoming Disney+ series Wonder Man.
1 Team Thor
Although Marvel Studios stopped producing one-shots after All Hail the King, they did release a series of webisodes leading up to the release of Thor: Ragnarok. These webisodes, entitled "Team Thor," were far more comedic than most other MCU projects, closely resembling the style of a sitcom as the chaos that accompanied Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as he begins rooming with Darryl Jacobson (Daley Pearson), a regular man on Earth.
"Team Thor" foreshadowed Thor's transformation in Ragnarok, which would turn him into a far more comedic character than he had been in the past. The short films poked fun at Thor's absence from the events of Captain America: Civil War but didn't have any real bearing on his storyline in future projects. For many years, the canonicity of "Team Thor" remained unclear. Nevertheless, Darryl returned as a New Asgard tour guide in Thor: Love and Thunder, implying that the webisodes were in fact canon.