On Friday night at Comic-Con, Marvel premiered their latest short film Item 47.  Directed by Louis D’Esposito (Co- President of Marvel Studios) and starring Lizzy Caplan, Jesse Bradford, Maximiliano Hernández and Titus Welliver, Item 47 is about a hard-luck couple who get their hands on an alien gun that falls from the sky after the events of The Avengers.  For more on the short (which will be available on The Avengers Blu-ray) click here.

The day after the premiere, I got to sit down with D’Esposito for an extended interview.  We talked about being at Comic-Con, what props he owns, how he go to direct Item 47, if he had any additional money for the budget due to his position at the studio and whether the actors signed on for feature films.  In addition, we also talked about the possibility of future short films premiering at Comic-Con, the success of The Avengers, if they’ll release an extended Avengers directors cut in theaters, Ant-Man, deleted scenes that have never been released, if they’ll ever make R-rated Marvel movies, the importance of bringing other Marvel characters to life, and a lot more.  Hit the jump to watch.