Marvel’s Secret Invasion has been a wild ride thus far. Nick Fury’s adventure working both with and against the Skrull race has been intense viewing for Marvel Cinematic Universe fans. While a number of surprises have taken place over the course of the show, one of the most major ones came at the climax of the opening episode.
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Maria Hill, a long-time friend of Nick Fury and one of the best secret operatives working around the globe, was killed at the conclusion of the first episode by Gravik, the leader of the Skrull Rebellion. Maria, played by Cobie Smulders, made a number of appearances throughout the MCU, and over that time, much was changed from her comic book counterpart.
Her Mother
One of the interesting changes that Secret Invasion in particular made to Maria Hill’s character was a subtle one alluding to her backstory. Maria’s mother comes to talk to Nick Fury and asks how her daughter died in Secret Invasion episode 2, wanting answers in her time of grief. While Nick is unable to give her satisfaction, she at least gets to continue living in the MCU.
Unlike her comic book counterpart. Maria Hill’s backstory is explored in Marvel Comics, where it is revealed that her mother died in childbirth and her father blamed her for the death, leading to him resenting her forever. None of this halted Maria’s ambition or progress in life, and she eventually made it into the ranks of SHIELD.
She Never Became Director
Maria Hill has had a number of roles in the Marvel Comics Universe, usually working as a side character to various heroes at different times. However, she did have a stint as director of SHIELD during and following Marvel’s Civil War. During this time, she proved she could roll in the dirt and turn against heroes she had once considered friends.
Maria Hill in the MCU never had such difficulties. She usually worked alongside heroes or at least in their interests, never appearing as morally gray as Nick Fury did in his role as SHIELD director. As SHIELD was dissolved in the MCU after being infiltrated by Hydra, Maria never got her chance to be in charge of the organization herself.
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Her Civil War Role
Maria Hill appeared in a large supporting role in Captain America: Winter Soldier, but surprisingly neither she nor Nick Fury appeared in the following Captain America feature, as the Avengers they had created tore themselves apart. The MCU’s Civil War was quite different from the Marvel Comics version, and Hill’s lack of role was a huge shift considering everybody took a side in the comics during this good vs good confrontation.
In the comics, Maria Hill was the one who drove Captain America underground and into hiding as Director of SHIELD. Then she obeyed Tony Stark to the letter when he named himself the new Director and ordered her to begin hunting down superheroes who refused to have their identities revealed.
Her Relationships
In the MCU, Maria’s relationships with various characters are quite different from how they were presented over time in Marvel Comics. Her relationship with Nick Fury was quite different, being much more turbulent in the comics compared to the undying loyalty that she shows throughout their appearances together in the MCU.
The Avengers, also, are an organization that comic book Maria Hill initially didn’t trust. She later had a number of conflicts with them due to her variety of roles within the government. In the movies, Maria again shows unwavering loyalty to superheroes and understood the need for them from the get-go. She has particularly good relationships with the likes of Captain America and Tony Stark, two men with whom her past in the comics is troubled.
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The Kobik Initiative
One of Maria Hill’s most famous story arcs in the pages of Marvel Comics was the Kobik Initiative. The story involved her, while in charge of SHIELD, attempting to manipulate reality. When she was caught, Maria then used the shards of the cube to create a supervillain prison called Pleasant Hill, a town where everyone forgot their identities and lived a peaceful life.
This part was particularly familiar to MCU fans because of the similarities between the Pleasant Hill storyline and WandaVision. Wanda created a town very similar to this, but Maria Hill wasn’t involved at all during the events of WandaVision despite this sort of thing being right up her and Nick Fury’s alley.
Her Death
Maria Hill’s time in the MCU seemingly ended at the conclusion of Secret Invasion’s first episode. While it isn’t impossible that she could be brought back, or that a Skrull could transform into her later, she seems to have perished in a very final sort of way. This didn’t happen during the Marvel Comics Secret Invasion event. Indeed, Maria played a pivotal role during the second Secret Invasion event that occurred in 2022.
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Maria did, however, “die” once in Marvel Comics. This event came in 2020’s Taskmaster series when Maria “died,” only for it to turn out later that she’d faked her death in order to frame Taskmaster so that he would retrieve the Kinesic Signatures she needed. This convoluted plan could yet be replicated in Secret Invasion, with Nick Fury and Maria Hill being geniuses at faking their own deaths.
Marvel’s Secret Invasion premiered on Disney Plus on June 21, 2023.
