The first episode of “Secret Invasion” on Disney+ ends with a proper shock for Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) – and for the audience: Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) dies! Is she really dead or is Marvel misleading us once again?
The first episode of “Secret Invasion” bumbles along for quite a long time after a successful opening, but the finale of this first episode is all the more shocking for it: Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who hasn’t been seen in the MCU since “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame”, dies after being shot by Skrull villain Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir). But is the ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. agent really dead?
After all, we are talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), where even Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the main character of “Secret Invasion”, has already returned from the dead once (namely in “Captain America 2”). Moreover, at the latest since the Marvel multiverse was opened with “Loki”, “Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness” and co. and all kinds of variants of characters have been romping around, no death really seems final any more. And wasn’t Maria Hill really a Skrull in Spider-Man: Far From Home?
WE BELIEVE: MARIA HILL IS REALLY DEAD
All these are valid arguments, but we are still pretty sure: Maria Hill is really dead. Firstly, the staging of the death scene speaks for this: Hill still finds time for a few last words to Fury, then dies in his arms and while a pool of blood spreads under her body, the camera slowly zooms out – with cinematic means it is thus mirrored here how life leaves her body.
Secondly, Maria Hill’s death also fits in with the parallels between Nick Fury and Skrull leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) that are repeatedly emphasised in this episode. For Episode 1 begins with us learning of the death of Talos’ wife Soren (Sharon Blynn) – and now ends with the death of Fury’s closest confidant and friend Maria Hill. This is tragic, but seems quite coherent to us.
And thirdly, it could not have been a Skrull that was killed here in the form of Maria Hill. Because as we also see again in episode 1, the shape-shifting aliens show their true selves as soon as they die – so they turn back into green-skinned, pointy-eared Skrulls. And that’s exactly what doesn’t happen here during the long tracking shot.
Not for nothing did Cobie Smulders herself declare in an interview with Vanity Fair: “I’m pretty sure that’s the end. She said it felt and still feels strange. “Maria Hill’s death is very real, very shocking, and it feels very human. “
