Starting with the Thor and Captain America Blu-ray/DVDs, Marvel has started releasing short films.  The Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) shorts were cute, but nothing particularly groundbreaking.  However, Marvel might be adding some more weight with their latest "One-Shot", Item 47.  The short film will be available on the Blu-ray/DVD for The Avengers (which hits stores on September 25th), but Marvel will show Item 47 at a special screening at Comic-Con.  The title refers to an alien gun that falls into the hands of a hard-luck couple (played by Lizzy Caplan and Jesse Bradford) after the climactic battle in The Avengers.  Two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents (Maximiliano Hernández and Titus Welliver) are tasked with getting the gun and capturing the couple, who are going on a crime-spree with their new toy.Hit the jump for more details, and Marvel's plans for future short films.  The 2012 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 12 – 15th.While the first two Marvel one-shots, Something Funny Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer and The Consultant both ran four minutes, Item 47 will run twelve minutes.  EW also reports that Item 47 will go "on a much bigger ride."  Here's the first image from the film:If you're going to be at Comic-Con and want to see the short, the "Avengers Second Screen" app will be available for free on iTunes this Friday, and it will provide a series of clues that will lead fans to a screening of Item 47 on the evening of Thursday, July 12th.Marvel is making sure that each new home video release has a short film, so scripts are already being prepped for the shorts that will accompany the Blu-ray/DVDs of Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and Captain America 2.  Additionally, the studio is exploring the possibility of making the shorts a test balloon for heroes that might get their own movie, e.g. Black Panther or Wasp.  However, Marvel Studios co-president Louis D'Esposito points out the risk in this approach:

"Let’s say we wanted to introduce Ant-Man [in a short], and that would mean we have to cast him prior to having a filmmaker. That’s difficult and something we wouldn’t want to do."

However, Ant-Man may have been a poor example since the property does have a filmmaker: Edgar Wright.  Wright recently shot a test reel for the film, and while that's obviously not the same thing as a short film, it could serve the same purpose of getting fans interested if Marvel decided to show it at a major presentation.  Before you laugh off the idea, remember that at last year's Comic-Con, producer Joe Roth was able to build anticipation for Snow White and the Huntsman simply by showing off the visual effects and set pieces director Rupert Sanders was planning.

We'll be at Comic-Con next week and if we see Item 47, we'll be sure to let you know what we thought.