Marvel fans’ jaws hit the floor twice in the space of a minute at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. First, the post-credits scene saw the surprising return of both Nick Fury and Maria Hill for the first time since 2015’s Age of Ultron. And then, just as quickly as they came back, the duo were killed off, as the two former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents fell prey to “The Snappening” – as Thanos used the Infinity Gauntlet to halve the population of the universe.
But as we were too busy processing all of this, we overlooked a major question about Fury and Hill’s involvement in the movie: what exactly are they doing? And, more importantly, who are they working for? You’ll remember that 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier saw S.H.I.E.L.D. disbanded after it was discovered that HYDRA were secretly in charge of the heroic spy organization.
In their brief Infinity War cameo, though, the duo have S.H.I.E.L.D. level tech and global reach behind them once again. For example, they’re able to monitor what’s going on in Wakanda from New York via satellites tracking the nation. More tellingly, Fury and Hill both refer to something called “Control.” That’s not a term we’ve heard in conjunction with S.H.I.E.L.D. before, which suggests they’ve allied themselves with a different organization.
This could explain where the pair have been for the past three years and in particular, why they didn’t intervene during Captain America: Civil War. Perhaps their new superiors wanted to stay in the shadows and didn’t want to get involved with the political rigmarole surrounding the Sokovia Accords? They could even have hoovered up S.H.I.E.L.D.’s assets, as Fury was somehow piloting a Helicarrier at the end of Ultron.
Given these similarities, you might be wondering if Fury and Hill might just be working for a rebooted S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s vaguely possible, of course, as Marvel TV fans will know that Phil Coulson has kept the organization alive over on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. However, note that Fury’s SUV and their equipment doesn’t sport the familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. logos.
It looks like the pair are part of some clandestine new agency in Avengers: Infinity War then. Though we’ll have to wait and see if they reveal themselves in Avengers 4 or whether this mystery will be carried over into Phase Four.