MAJOR SPOILERS for Secret Invasion. The first episode of Secret Invasion was full of twists and turns, with the shape-shifting Skrulls leaving you unsure of who you could trust. Cobie Smulders, who stars in the series alongside Samuel L. Jackson, broke down the shocking ending of the Secret Invasion premiere while speaking with Vanity Fair.
If you’re still with us, you’ll know that Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) is gunned down by Nick Fury in the closing moments of the Secret Invasion premiere. However, it’s quickly revealed that it was really Skrull leader Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) in disguise, and the real Fury could only hold Hill as she died from her wounds.
After playing Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the last ten years, Cobie Smulders was sad to bid farewell to her character. “It felt and it feels strange,” Smulders said. “Maria Hill’s passing is very real, and it’s shocking, and it feels very human. It was a sad day.” However, she couldn’t say for sure if Hill was really dead. “I mean, I didn’t know I was an alien in Spider-Man,” Smulders said. “There is a Multiverse now, so anything is possible. But I’m pretty sure this is it.” There have been rumours that Hill will return in The Marvels, but Smulders said, “I don’t know anything about that.“
Cobie Smulders also discussed how she felt about how her character died, and if Hill would have realized it wasn’t really Fury who shot her. “To have Fury see himself, to know that Hill thinks that Fury shot her—that’s the pain of that moment,” Smulders said. “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.“
“While The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series carried a similar visual palette as this, Secret Invasion‘s story feels more immediate and less cinematic,” Our own Alex Maidy wrote in his review. “There are a couple of bigger set-pieces in the first episodes that would have fit into a big-screen MCU endeavor, but overall most of this story is in backrooms and interiors, lending it a more confined feel.” You can check out the rest of Maidy’s review of the first two episodes of Secret Invasion right here.