The next film in the Marvel Studios line-up is The Avengers. No more origin stories are standing in the way and the culmination of years of work by the studio to introduce, develop and connect their flagship superheroes is about to come to fruition. That's not to say Marvel can't go back in the timeline and bridge a few more gaps.

On the home video release of Thor came a special feature, a short film that tied Iron Man 2 and The Incredible Hulk together and exemplified Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) role as "The Consultant" for The Avengers initiative. On the Blu-ray release of Captain America: The First Avenger which releases next week, there is another Marvel One-Shot, this one taking place right before the events of Thor.

The first short was called "The Consultant" and starred Agent Coulson with another unnamed SHIELD agent as they discuss having to use Tony Stark to sway General 'Thunderbolt' Ross into keeping The Abomination all to himself - their goal of course, is to recruit The Hulk into The Avengers instead.

This follow-up takes place during Iron Man 2 as Coulson makes his way to New Mexico where Thor's hammer has fallen. It's aptly titled "A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to Thor's Hammer" and gives Agent Coulson a little action for once. Check it out:

Those years of S.H.I.E.L.D. training really pay off as Coulson keeps his cool while he dispatches two armed opponents with nothing but convenience shop snacks, or is there more to Mr. Coulson than meets the eye? Who buys both chocolate and powdered donuts?

Find out net summer as Clark Gregg returns for The Avengers which also stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgard. It is of course written and directed by Joss Whedon, opening in theaters on May 4, 2012.

Joss Whedon and some of the cast came to New York Comic-Con this weekend and last week saw the release of the first trailer for The Avengers. Also, be sure to check out our description of The Avengers panel and footage from the con.

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Source: Said Malikov