At the end of 2008's The Incredible Hulk, Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., walks into a shady bar where General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross, played by William Hurt, is busy pounding drinks. After making quips about each others' suits, Stark gets down to business, telling Ross that he knows about the General's "unusual problem," and that a very special team is being put together. Obviously he was talking about The Avengers, but how exactly did it turn out to be Stark that approached Ross? Find out in the clip from the short film The Consultant below, courtesy of Marvel.



Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will remember that Nick Fury, played by Samuel L. Jackson, actually hired Tony Stark as a consultant at the end of Iron Man 2, so while they never mention Stark by name, it's obvious that's who Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) and the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agent are talking about. While this is only the first clip from the short - the full thing will be included with the Thor blu-ray which is due out on September 13 - what's interesting is that Stark apparently wasn't approaching Ross about getting The Hulk for the Avengers, but rather was there to ask about releasing Emil Blonsky a.k.a. The Abomination (though it was actually a bluff and Stark was just a patsy). I really like this idea and hope that we get more short films to fill in the gaps while we wait for The Avengers next summer.