After the events of The Incredible Hulk, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Phil Coulson has some bad news for agent Jasper Sitwell: The World Security Council wants Emil Blonsky to join the Avengers Initiative, and Coulson has orders to obtain his release from General Thaddeus Ross. Unable to defy the Council's request, Coulson and Sitwell hatch a plan to sabotage it – with a very special secret weapon.