Marvel One Shots, Featuring Agent Coulson

It's almost here!  Avengers is just a day away!

To celebrate, we've decided to give you just one more review, of the two Marvel One Shot short films, The Consultant, and A Funny Thing Happened on the way to Thor's Hammer.

Hero/Universe: Agent Coulson, The Marvel Cinematic Universe

Is it Based on the Comic?  Nope.  But a new Nick Fury (resembling Samuel L Jackson) and Agent Coulson have both recently made their debut in comics.

Haven't they already made this? These appeared online and as extras on the Thor and Cap Blu-rays, and one does use some footage from The Incredible Hulk.

What does it have to do with Avengers?  Well, The Consultant clears up a couple questions caused by the Stark cameo in Hulk, and A Funny Thing is just Agent Coulson being awesome.  But, these fill in some small holes in the marvel cinematic universe.

Mike says these are so Fun!  They're both about three minutes, and both showcase a fun side of Coulson's personality.  The  Consultant seems to focus on his wit, humor, and willingness to work the system for what he thinks is best. A Funny Thing really highlights just how much of a bad-ass Coulson can be (despite his fondness for donuts).

I like The Consultant, because it fixes something Marvel could have easily ignored: the now irrelevant Stark cameo at the end of Hulk, which was made before anyone had any idea of what the heck Avengers could be or would be about.  While most of the film is clips from Hulk, it's surprising how much Coulson's character come through.

A Funny Thing is just plain fun, and that's really all it is.  Filling in the small gap between Iron Man 2 and Thor, the film features Coulson breaking up a gas station robbery.  And it's AWESOME.  And funny!

While these two short films don't add much tot the franchise as a whole, it's fun to see this unexpected fan favorite character break out on his own, if only for a few minutes.

Kate says these are great clips, mostly for how casually hilarious they are and how much information they deliver in three minutes. Of course Coulson would love big band! That is so right. and his casual, almost apologetic behavior with the cashier is also very right.  

I agree with Mike that The Consultant puts Stark in context. It also brings up a nice extra layer to the superhero universe--the ongoing, internal rivalry between agencies. I found the entire discussion of Abomination ("He doesn't like that name") so fascinating, I started thinking, "Wow, they could have made Hulk about this!"

But mostly the shorts are a chance to see Coulson in action. I'm betting Gregg never saw the character's fandom coming. It is hard to decipher the je ne sais pas that makes the character so appealing, but I think the shorts help to decipher it: extra, extra dryness plus extreme efficiency, intelligence, and a cool head, not forgetting relentless courtesy, all of it masking competent kick-your-buttness.

He's Giles!