10 Things We Learned From Marvel's 'Assembling A Universe'
7. The One Shots Were Created To Further Enhance/Tie Up The Universe
Around the time of Thor and The Avengers, the folks in charge of Marvel Studios started producing what they called One Shots. Taking the term from the comic company's practice of one off comic stories, a micro budget was pulled aside for three initial shorts: The Consultant, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Thor's Hammer, and Item 47. The first two dealt with the further adventures of Agent Coulson, as well as giving him more of a character within the Marvel Universe at large. Furthermore, The Consultant took the opportunity to explain just why Tony Stark was sent to speak to General Ross at the end of The Incredible Hulk. Continuity gaps and further world building were on the menu for those and future One Shots, giving the studio the opportunity to build new characters like Agent Sitwell, or even right some wrongs that the fans felt had been executed against the original material. All Hail The King wasn't a big backtrack to appease fans that hated the new spin on The Mandarin... it was hatched on the set of Iron Man 3. Turns out co-writer Drew Pearce wanted to have his cake and eat it to, so the short attached to Thor: The Dark World was created to give future filmmakers a chance to make an actual Mandarin storyline a reality. If that doesn't fuel the apologists who love Iron Man 3, we don't know what does.
Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.
