It's starting to feel like the Marvel Universe is getting bigger by the day: not only do we get a new movie every six months or so and an ongoing TV show in Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (with the promise of more TV to come next year), but there are Marvel's short films – named One-Shots – to plug the gaps in between. Iron Man 3's trained ac-tor Trevor Slattery is allegedly the latest Marvel character to get the One-Shot treatment, but we've rustled up 10 minor characters who could benefit from a little more exposure.

Colonel James Rhodes aka War Machine/Iron Patriot

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He was little more than meat in the room in the first Iron Man, and it was only when Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard as Rhodey in Iron Man 2 that the character's potential as a sidekick/wingman was unlocked. Iron Man 3 showed just how cool War Machine/Iron Patriot could be given the right material, and we'd like to see more of Colonel James in that vein – taking names and dishing out justice in the name of Uncle Sam. Of course, there's also the unanswered question of exactly what Rhodey was doing during that whole 'aliens invade New York' episode in The Avengers. Did he sleep in?

The Leader

Tim Blake Nelson as The Leader in The Incredible Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk is, in Joss Whedon parlance, the red-headed step-child of the MCU. But this can be remedied. If we're ret-conning Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk and still consider the events of Louis Leterrier's 2008 smash-a-thon as canon, then somewhere out there is Tim Blake Nelson's gamma-poisoned scientist Samuel Sterns, who we last saw with a mutated bonce. In comic lore, Sterns becomes Hulk nemesis The Leader, a big green megalomaniac with aspirations to rule Earth. That's got to be a worth a few minutes of anyone's time, right? Avengers prequel comic 'Fury's Big Week' showed Sterns being subdued by S.H.I.E.L.D. shortly after his movie appearance but that's a cop-out: let no good Marvel villain go to waste, we say.

Agent Maria Hill

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It's strange, but it feels like Maria Hill made her debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a lot earlier than Avengers Assemble: that's perhaps a testament to how much Cobie Smulders instantly owned the role of the no-nonsense S.H.I.E.L.D. maven. With her token cameo the highlight of the Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot, Hill is a prime potential candidate for a One-Shot: think something akin to Hayley Atwell's Agent Carter short, but in a modern-day setting, maybe even threaded in or around existing MCU storylines. The dearth of female superheroes means a Maria Hill short is an open goal.

Fandral, Volstagg, Hogun (aka The Warriors Three) and Lady Sif

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There's only so much ass-kicking to go around Asgard and it stands to reason that the God of Thunder be the one to put boots to asses – but The Warriors Three and Lady Sif deserve to be more than just comic relief and eye candy. The world of Thor stretches far and wide, spanning the Nine Realms, so there should be no shortage of places that Sif and the Warriors Three are needed now that Thor is a resident of Midgard. Do we really know much about Fandral, Volstagg and Hogun other than the fact that they're polite, vulgar and honourable respectively? And if you thought Lady Sif got majorly short-changed by The Dark World, a One-Shot is a pretty good way for Marvel to make amends.

Gary

There were so many amazing single-serving characters in Shane Black's Iron Man 3, it's difficult to pick our favourite, but as 'Henchman who hates working for Aldrich Killian because he's so weird' doesn't technically have a name, we're going to have to go with Gary, the Tony Stark-obsessed cameraman – yes, he of the van and the questionable tattoo ("Boom!"). We're interested in seeing how Gary plans to take his Stark fandom to the next level after meeting – and aiding – his iron idol. More tattoos? Plastic surgery? A home-made suit of his own? Only one thing is certain: the world needs more Gary.

Happy Hogan

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Each new Iron Man movie reveals hidden depths about Tony Stark's 'Forehead of security' Happy Hogan, so a Marvel One-Shot is the perfect way to keep the happiness coming. Iron Man 3 uncovered his unlikely love of Downton Abbey, which – according to writer Drew Pearce – appeals to Happy because of the 'upstairs downstairs' nature of his own life, namely his unspoken love for Pepper Potts. There's more comedic mileage to be explored in that concept for sure, but frankly we'd watch Jon Favreau silently eating his breakfast, such is our love for Iron Man's portly bodyguard.

Dum Dum Dugan and The Howling Commandos

Neal McDonough as Dum Dum Dugan.

Much like Thor inevitably steals the limelight from the Warriors Three, all-American hero Steve Rogers always ends up overshadowing the Howling Commandos. That's a shame, because even though they are ostensibly supporting characters that cover Captain America's back, the Commandos have some fun faces in their number – none more-so than Neal McDonagh's Dum Dum Dugan, the bowler hat-wearing former circus strongman. We saw a brief glimpse of Dum Dum in the Agent Carter One-Shot (asking Howard Stark about bikinis no less) but he – and indeed the rest of the Howlers – deserve way more screen time. We reckon Cap would be cool with it.

Justin Hammer

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Not so much a villain as an ill-fated rival to Tony Stark in Iron Man 2, Justin Hammer was sent down thanks to his affiliation with Ivan Vanko's Whiplash – he's more a misunderstood and misguided businessman than a bad boy. Even a character as charismatic as Tony Stark can get too smug for his own good sometimes, so it makes sense for his old nemesis to continue yanking his chain from behind bars: a One-Shot could reveal exactly how former snappy dresser Justin Hammer is coping in his prison-issued boiler suit. Oh, who are we kidding: we just want six more minutes of Sam Rockwell dancing.

Dum-E

One-Shots don't necessarily have to further a character's storyline or pick up a dangling story thread – they can be fun experiments, too. What greater challenge could there be for Kevin Feige and his producers than a silent Marvel short, starring not WALL-E but Dum-E – the robotic arm that served Tony Stark so well across all three Iron Man movies? The fact that a rudimentary machine has his own Marvel wiki page tells you just how much can be achieved with movement alone. Besides, admit it: you teared up when you saw Dum-E trying to save himself during the destruction of Stark's Malibu mansion in Iron Man 3, didn't you?

Thanos

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Heroes? They're clean-cut, wholesome, glib and almost always boring. But villains? Now those are the guys worth exploring further. All we've seen of Joss Whedon's big bad Thanos so far is a purple face full of pearly whites at the end of Avengers Assemble, and as he's being positioned to play a major part in Guardians Of The Galaxy in 2014, it'd be good to get a primer in the meantime. Like, who is Thanos? What drives Thanos? What does Thanos drive? And what's all this about him fancying Death? Think of it as a crash course in getting to know your friendly extraterrestrial warlord before he moves into the neighbourhood.

Those are our picks for potential one-shots, but we'd love to hear yours, so post your suggestions in the comments below...