Secret Invasion on Disney+ shocks us at the end of episode 1 with the death of a popular Marvel character. But is Maria Hill really dead? We have theories.
Warning, spoilers for Secret Invasion follow:After a hiatus of over eight months, the Marvel Cinematic Universe brings us a new series on Disney+ that does a lot of things differently. Secret Invasion promises to be the toughest MCU series yet. Episode 1 makes that clear with an event that has many Marvel fans in shock.
Maria Hill who has been part of the MCU for 11 years has been surprisingly killed off. Or is there still hope that the series is trying to pull the wool over our eyes? Below is an explanation of the brutal ending of episode 1 as well as an exciting theory for the rescue of the supposed Marvel victim.
Secret Invasion kills Maria Hill: Episode 1’s ending explained
In the first episode of Secret Invasion, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) and Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) team up to prevent a terrorist attack that the Skrulls intend to use to provoke a war between Russia and the US. Unfortunately, they do not succeed in this endeavour.
Maria Hill in Secret Invasion
A major disaster and loss occurs in a square in Moscow in front of Fury and his fellow soldiers. After the bombing, Maria Hill is unexpectedly shot by the Skrull Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir), who has taken the form of Nick Fury. The shot is fatal. Maria bleeds to death while Fury is forced to flee.
The former S.H.I.E.L.D. commander has been a part of the MCU since The Avengers. Since then, she has appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron, Avengers 4: Endgame and the series Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Spider-Man: Far From Home also featured a version of Maria Hill, but she turned out to be a disguised Skrull.
The shock runs deep. After all, hardly anyone saw coming that the new Marvel series would prematurely cut short Maria Hill’s eagerly awaited return as early as episode 1 and that the MCU would get rid of her just like that after 11 years. If nothing else, Maria Hill’s story didn’t even get a proper conclusion. A hero’s death looks different. And that’s precisely why we should doubt her death.
Is Maria Hill really dead or is a Marvel twist repeating itself?
This much we can already tell you about episode 2 (minor spoiler): Maria Hill will not be miraculously resurrected. The series forcefully conveys to us that Maria died in the line of duty. Her death gives Nick Fury’s failure the greatest possible emotional weight and makes it clear that no one is safe in this series.
Some suspicion should nevertheless be in order when we consider the central Secret Invasion theme of misdirection. It wouldn’t be the first time the MCU faked the death of a main character only to surprise us with their spectacular return afterwards.
