Secret Invasion's Cobie Smulders: It "feels like the end" for Maria Hill
However the star also offered fans some hope by saying that "anything is possible" following the shock ending to episode 1.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Secret Invasion episode 1
The first episode of Secret Invasion ended with a major shock, as Cobie Smulders' character Maria Hill was killed at the hands of Skrull antagonist Gravik.
Judging from the closing scenes it looked like Maria was pretty unambiguously dead, but some fans have retained hope that the situation could be more complex and she could yet live to fight another day.
And now Smulders herself has weighed in on the matter during an interview with Variety, explaining that it "feels like the end" for the character who she's been playing on and off since Avengers Assemble in 2012.
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However, she did also offer some a small ray of hope that there could yet be a way back.
"It’s such a vast, complicated, multiversed world that Marvel is living in," she said. "So I suppose anything is possible. This is all above my level of access, so I don’t know.
"Her death propelled the story in a much more vulnerable direction for the rest of the characters in the show. It certainly is increasing the stakes and setting up Fury to be in a very emotional state. That’s hopefully been accomplished."
Read more:
- Secret Invasion viewers left "speechless" by shocking episode 1 ending
- Secret Invasion star Cobie Smulders teases "much more dark" Marvel show
In the same interview, Smulders revealed that she'd been "from the get-go" that Maria wasn't going to make it to the end of the series, revealing that she's "known for years now that this was how the story was going to play out."
She added: "I’m so glad that nothing got spoiled. I kind of can’t believe it. Even talking about it out loud feels like I’m doing something wrong."
Smulders has played Maria Hill in six different MCU films – most recently in Spider-Man: No Way Home – and she has denied reports that she will be reprising the role one last time in upcoming film The Marvels, recently telling Vanity Fair that "I don’t know anything about that."
New episodes of Secret Invasion are available to watch on Disney Plus weekly. Sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 per month or £79.90 for a full year’s subscription.
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