Secret Invasion Star Cobie Smulders Reportedly Returning for The Marvels

Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now underway, and its movies and crop of Disney+ television shows are continuing to surprise fans. The next film on the docket for the franchise is set to be The Marvels — and according to a new report, the film will feature the return of a surprising character. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cobie Smulders will be reprising her role as Maria Hill in The Marvels. Spoilers for the first episode of Secret Invasion below! Only look if you want to know! This report is especially interesting considering the recently-aired premiere episode of Marvel's Secret Invasion, which ended with Hill dying onscreen in an attack from Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). Smulders has been playing Hill since the early days of the MCU, appearing as the character in The Avengers, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home.

If Smulders is in fact in The Marvels, that could possibly hint that her Secret Invasion death is a fakeout, or the film is set beforehand in the timeline. Given recent comments that Smulders made, it might be the latter option. "I'm pretty sure this is it... It felt and it feels strange," Smulders recently told Vanity Fair of Hill's death. "Maria Hill's passing is very real, and it's shocking, and it feels very human." 

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What Is The Marvels About?

In Marvel StudiosThe Marvels, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol's estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up to learn to work in concert to save the universe as 'The Marvels.'

"The first one was the origin story of who [Carol] is," Larson said in an interview earlier this year. "Now it's digging into some of the complexities. That there is much more to her than that, that there are parts that are not so great about her. That we can see a hero as being a person that doesn't make every right decision all the time."

Are you excited for The Marvels? What do you think of Maria Hill possibly returning? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

The Marvels will debut exclusively in theaters on November 10th. Secret Invasion, meanwhile, debuts new episodes Wednesday exclusively on Disney+.

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