Spoilers for Marvel’s Disney+ series Secret Invasion.
Marvel’s Secret Invasion has already been greeted with lackluster reception thanks to the use of AI “art” in the credits and the death of Maria Hill, but the latter is something I especially want to focus on. That death, if it sticks, indicates that the Marvel Cinematic Universe may be backsliding into one of its worst trends of Phase 4: killing off major female characters.
Problem with Marvel women in Phase 4
Marvel’s always had a complicated relationship with its female characters; while a lot of the most prominent female action heroes of the 2010s came from Marvel movies, we also didn’t get a female-led movie until Phase 3’s Captain Marvel, literally over 10 years after the start of the MCU.
Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were double-edged swords, giving us great moments exploring the female characters of Marvel … but also killing off major female characters, a trend that continued into almost every Marvel movie in Phase 4.
Over the past 5 years alone, Marvel movies have killed off the original Gamora, Black Widow, Aunt May, Jane Foster, Scarlet Witch, and Queen Ramonda. Comparatively, we’ve only lost 3 male Marvel heroes: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers (retired/presumed dead), and King T’Challa—the latter only due to actor Chadwick Boseman’s death in real life. At this point, the only female official Avengers left are Captain Marvel and Okoye (unless The Wasp is considered an Avenger, which they haven’t confirmed).
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had broken this trend, allowing us to have complex female characters who weren’t killed to advance the plot, only for Secret Invasion to bring it back with the death of Maria Hill.
Larger issue
Even if Maria’s death does turn out to be the death of Skrull in her form or a fakeout in some other way, what was the point of it? To make headlines and grab people’s attention? To motivate the hero or villain? To add drama and stakes and make it feel like anyone can die?
In all honesty, it doesn’t feel like there’s a good answer to it. If her death was to make headlines and grab attention, then they’re either willing to kill off female characters for shock value or mislead audiences to hook their attention if she turns out not to be dead.
If her death was to motivate Fury (which the show states was the villain’s reason for killing her), the writers could have also accomplished that by having her get injured/incapacitated. Or otherwise, they could have made a more personal motivation for Fury. Maybe a debt he owed to the Skrulls for their help? Or maybe the fact that his wife is apparently a skrull?
If her death was meant to create “stakes” for the show, then I desperately need Marvel to take a look at how many female characters they have killed off recently, as it seems that you’re only in danger of dying if you’re a woman.
Even a female-led movie like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever suffered from this, with Queen Ramonda’s death feeling excessive when the film already had T’Challa’s death to motivate Shuri.
The future of Marvel’s women
The strangest part is that Phase 4 was largely centered around the passing of torches to, or otherwise mentoring, the next generation of heroes, yet almost none of the male heroes had to die in order to pass on the mantle to their successors, many of whom were young women.
At the same time, many of the female heroes have not had a chance to build and explore friendships and mentorships with other women heroes. (Supposedly this will happen in The Marvels, but we shouldn’t have to wait 3 years for an MCU movie willing to explore women). In many ways, the deaths of the older generation of female heroes feels ageist and like Marvel is throwing away the “old” and bringing in “new blood” particularly when it comes to women.
The Black Widow film falls into this trap especially, with Natasha’s movie feeling more like setup for her replacement rather than a long overdue exploration of her as a character.
Overall, Maria Hill’s death feels like a step back for the MCU in almost every way: it feels cheap and lazy, and once again proves many critiques about the MCU correct. Do better, Marvel, for your remaining female superheroes’ sakes.
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