Marvel’s Secret Invasion has started and so far it’s every bit as grim as was promised. No character is safe, even if they’re beloved, long-standing fan favorites. The first to go seemed to be Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross … but no, wait, he was a Skrull imposter! The big shocking death was, in fact, right at the end of the episode.
Spoilers ahead for Marvel’s Secret Invasion
Who died in Secret Invasion?
In the very first episode of the new Marvel series, Cobie Smulders’s character Maria Hill is shot by the Skrull Gravik while he’s disguised as Nick Fury. The last shot of the episode is Maria lying on the ground as blood pools around her body.
Did Maria Hill die in Secret Invasion?
Maria Hill certainly seems to be absolutely dead. But if you’ve spent any time at all around Marvel comics and movies, you’ll know death is rarely a straightforward process. Sure, Maria looked dead, but could this all be a fakeout? Maybe this Maria is a Skrull? Probably not, since her face didn’t revert to Skrull form upon death (you were waiting for that too, weren’t you?), but it’s a possibility. And Secret Invasion director Ali Selim is keeping things vague. When Polygon asked him about the shocking death and if there was any chance of Maria returning, he answered, “That’s a question for Kevin Feige—I don’t make those decisions about who goes or when. But I thought, Oh, great, a death scene with Cobie Smulders. How fun is that going to be?”
Could Maria Hill return?
It’s worth mentioning that characters in the MCU have come back from worse than being shot! Gamora was killed by Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War, but an alternate variant of her returned in time for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. We’ve likewise seen “variants” of popular deceased characters such as Peggy Carter in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. And let’s not forget, Phil Coulson was killed in The Avengers, yet was brought back for the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Which Maria Hill also appeared in.)
With so many alternate timelines and multiverse shenanigans going on, who’s to say if any MCU character will ever truly stay dead?
How are people reacting to Maria Hill’s death?
We may only be one episode in, but many things about Secret Invasion have raised eyebrows. The AI-generated opening credits have been met with nothing but derision, for a start. Selim being told upfront not to read the comics—you know, the thing the story was based on—has also left many people unimpressed. And Maria Hill’s death certainly hasn’t gone over well with Twitter.
Even on the off-chance that Maria or a variant of her will make a grand return somewhere down the line, it’s hard not to feel like she was fridged for the sake of shock value. Her death was brutal and pointless—surely not the way the character would have chosen to go out. Whether Maria’s demise will end up being more meaningful as Secret Invasion goes on … well, we’ll just have to wait and see.
(featured image: Disney+)
