Whether or not Maria Hill realized who actually shot her isn’t the only mystery currently surrounding the character’s final scene in the “Secret Invasion” premiere. There’s also the matter of whether she really is dead now. Over the years, the MCU has brought back certain characters from the dead, including Gamora (Zoë Saldaña) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston), so it wouldn’t be the most shocking thing if Hill were to somehow rebound from her seemingly fatal gunshot wound.
For now, Smulders seems fairly confident that “Secret Invasion” does represent the end of the line for her MCU hero. In the same interview with Vanity Fair, Smulders acknowledged that Marvel Studios may have plans for her character that she doesn’t know about yet but insisted that she thinks Agent Hill has breathed her last breath in the MCU. “There is a multiverse now, so anything is possible. But I’m pretty sure this is it,” the actor said. Smulders went on to note that she thinks about her character’s “Secret Invasion” death in surprisingly grounded, visceral terms. “Maria Hill’s passing is very real, and it’s shocking, and it feels very human.” the longtime MCU star explained.
With five episodes left to go before “Secret Invasion” ends, there’s still plenty of time for the Disney+ series to throw out more twists and surprises. It is, therefore, possible that the MCU thriller will find some way to eventually recontextualize or erase Hill’s apparent death. For now, however, it seems like Marvel fans should start coming to terms with the fact that they may, indeed, have just seen the last of the former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
