Secret Invasion Star Confirms End of Character's MCU Journey

Marvel's Secret Invasion Disney+ series ended its premiere episode with a massive shock of a longtime Marvel Cinematic Universe character suffering a grisly death. However, in a story that carries the kind of legacy that "Secret Invasion" does, it's understandable if Marvel fans don't immediately believe what their eyes are seeing. After all, anyone can turn out to be Skrull in disguise – and the Marvel Comics version of Secret Invasion kicked off with just that kind of character death fake-out. 

(WARNING: MASSIVE SPOILERS FOLLOW!) 

The end of Secret Invasion Episode 1 saw Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) die at the hands of Skrull terrorist Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), who lured her in by morphing into Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) during a chaotic bombing attack in Russia. Now, in a new follow-up interview to Secret Invasion Episode 1, Cobie Smulders is letting Marvel fans know that they should fully prepare for the fact that Maria Hill is gone: 

"Finally it's out there. I've been well trained—yeah, I've had to keep secrets," Smulders confirmed to Vanity Fair. When asked directly if the death of Maria Hill is a fake-out, Smulders answered that it was a very real death, one this very likely final: "I'm pretty sure this is it... It felt and it feels strange. Maria Hill's passing is very real, and it's shocking, and it feels very human." 

In regards to filming the scene, Cobie Smulders claims, "It was a sad day." 

The actress also shoots down the obvious loophole of the MCU currently exploring a multiverse of variant realities with different versions of established characters, opening an easy route for Smulders to play a Maria Hill variant: "There is a multiverse now, so anything is possible. But I'm pretty sure this is it."

Marvel Fan Backlash to Maria HIll's Death

In the comics, Maria Hill was a much more dynamic and active character in the Marvel Universe – especially in the 2000s and 2010s. Hill took over SHIELD after Fury stepped aside due to his "Secret War" in Doctor Doom's homeland of Latveria, and was a key figure in ushering in the Marvel Civil War, as well as the comic book "Secret Invasion" storyline. Hill often bumped heads with the Avengers, not being afraid to challenge them or even detain them. 

Marvel Cinematic Universe fans had long championed the idea of Smulders' Maria Hill finally getting more main character energy from the franchise – but now that's clearly not going to happen, and a lot of fans are angry about it. For her part, Cobie Smulders is letting fans know, she doesn't want anyone to be angry about Mariah Hill's fate, because in Marvel she trusts:

"I mean, listen, it would've been great – of course I would've loved to do more, but I trust that Marvel is doing the storyline that they think is best," Smulders said. She added that she's appreciative to her passionate fans, who loved Mariah Hill so much: 

"I feel bad if their reaction is negative and they don't like it, but I think that there is also something positive to take away from that," Smulders said. "They were so connected to the story and these characters that they cared. That is beautiful and wonderful."

Marvel's Secret Invasion is streaming new episodes on Disney+ every Wednesday.