Former Marvel Star Returning for Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion has added another Marvel mainstay to its ever-growing ensemble. As of Wednesday, Maria Hill is returning to the fold as Cobie Smulders has chosen to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In a move surprising few, Hill will once again return to aid Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) as he works to uncover one of the biggest conspiracies he's ever been involved in.

While Hill had a bigger presence in the earliest days of the MCU, her role has tapered off as of late. Her latest role came as a supporting character in Spider-Man: Far From Home and prior to that, she had a cameo in each Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.

Deadline first reported the news of Smulder's return.

While the series pulls inspiration from a Marvel Comics mini-series that had universe-changing consequences, the MCU is taking certain liberties with the story at hand.

"I'm currently working on a show for Disney+ called Secret Invasion, about which I can say very little," Marvel Studios producer Jonathan Schwartz recently told The Direct during the Shang-Chi press tour. "And then I'm also developing a feature that will be a few years down the line, about which I can say literally nothing."

"I think like you said, like all of our adaptations, it's definitely not a 1:1 adaptation of the comic books, although it takes a lot of that kind of paranoid spirit, and runs with it," he said of Secret Invasion. "I think that's literally everything I can say about it. We're going to leave the secret in Secret Invasion for now."

The actor joins an expansive cast that includes Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn (Talos), Kingsley Ben-Adir, Olivia Colman, Emilia Clarke, Killian Scott, Christopher McDonald, and Carmen Ejogo. The series is currently in production and is being directed by Thomas Bezucha and Ali Selim.

Secret Invasion has yet to set a release date on Disney+. What other characters do you hope appear in the series? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!

If you haven't signed up for Disney+ yet, you can try it out here. Note: If you purchase one of the awesome, independently chosen products featured here, we may earn a small commission from the retailer. Thank you for your support.