Marvel’s Secret Invasion actor Cobie Smulders on her character Maria Hill’s shocking death: ‘It feels very real’

Actor Cobie Smulders first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Maria Hill, the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., led by Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), in Joss Whedon’s 2012 superhero ensemble Avengers. She has now been killed off in the first episode of Marvel’s new series Secret Invasion. (Also Read: Secret Invasion: Samuel L Jackson and Olivia Colman’s exclusive interview on wanting to ‘fly’, being a superhero)

On her character being killed

“It felt and it feels strange. Maria Hill’s passing is very real, and it’s shocking, and it feels very human. It was a sad day. I don’t think I’ve ever died on camera. I got a real death scene! Of course I would’ve loved to do more, but I trust that Marvel is doing the storyline that they think is best. To have Fury see himself, to know that Hill thinks that Fury shot her—that’s the pain of that moment. I like to think that she, by the time she passed, knew it wasn’t him. Initially, it’s terrifying and so confusing. But I’d like to think she got there,” Cobie said in an interview with Vanity Fair.

How did Maria Hill die?

At the end of the opening episode of Secret Invasion, which premiered on June 21, a Skrull shapeshifts as Maria’s associate Nick Fury and shoots her. However, by the time the real Nick Fury reaches her, she dies.

Will Maria Hill return?

“There is a multiverse now, so anything is possible. But I’m pretty sure this is it. I don’t know anything about that,” Cobie said in the same interview, responding to rumours that she also pops up in The Marvels, MCU’s next film starring Brie Larson as Carol Denvers aka Captain Marvel, Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan aka Ms Marvel, Teynoah Paris as Monica Rambeau, and Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. The Marvels is slated to release in cinemas on November 10.

About Cobie Smulders

Cobie is a Canadian actor best known for playing Robin Scherbatsky in the popular CBS sitcom How I Met Your Mother. In the MCU, she’s appeared as Maria Hill in The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), in the post-credit scene of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and Secret Invasion. Interestingly, she’s also worked in the DC Extended Universe as the voice actor of Wonder Woman in The Lego Movie franchise.