Marvel Studios looked back to Cobie Smulders' performance as Maria Hill with a tribute following the MCU veteran's unexpected death.
Fans got quite the shocking moment for Maria Hill when Cobie Smulders' longtime MCU veteran met her unceremonious and untimely death in the final scene of Secret Invasion's first episode on Disney+.
This came as a frustrating event for MCU fans as the franchise killed off yet another original female supporting character, with many looking forward to seeing what Hill would do in her first live-action showing since the end of the Infinity Saga.
Marvel Celebrates MCU's Maria Hill
Marvel Studios' UK Instagram page posted a duo of pictures in tribute to Cobie Smulders' Maria Hill following the character's death in the MCU's Secret Invasion.
In that scene, Kingsley Ben-Adir's Gravik came to the town gathering in Russia, setting off a bomb as part of a terror attack before disguising himself as Nick Fury and shooting Maria Hill from point-blank range.
The picture features Hill sitting at a bar table with a drink in her hand and a chess board in front of her, smiling as she reacquaints herself with a former colleague and friend.
That colleague is none other than Samuel L. Jackson's veteran MCU hero, Nick Fury, with whom she worked during the entire first episode of Secret Invasion.
That episode saw them reunite on Earth for the first time since 2019's Avengers: Endgame, although Hill's death didn't come long after this moment.
The post included a touching caption reading "Here’s to you, Agent Hill," reminiscing on Smuders' 11-year run playing the hero between 2012's The Avengers and 2023's Secret Invasion.
Did Secret Invasion Do Maria Hill Justice?
After seven appearances across the MCU, which even included a couple of important moments in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD, many fans were expecting a lot out of Maria Hill's long-awaited comeback in Secret Invasion.
But with her inclusion in Secret Invasion really only being used to further the plot for Nick Fury in his fight against the Skrulls, many have shared their complaints about the moment not sending her off on the highest of notes.
For the time being, it appears that Maria Hill's death is now a permanent piece of MCU history, with no plans for the former SHIELD agent to make her way back into the story in any future Multiverse Saga films or shows.
And while Smulders doesn't seem to be finished playing the role in other venues, there will always be the question of "what could have been" after seeing her depart the MCU so soon in this series.
Secret Invasion is now streaming on Disney+.
