Killing off anyone in the MCU is a big deal because, after 15 years and counting, so many Marvel characters are beloved and have been part of the fans’ lives for so long. So naturally hearts were broken around the world when Secret Invasion shockingly executed one of the MCU’s longest-running good guys by the end of its very first episode. Sure, we were surprised, but the moment left a sour taste in viewers’ mouths as many hated how this character was being treated.
Yes, Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill was the unlucky Avenger ally in question, with Nick Fury’s loyal right-hand woman suffering the tragic indignity of being shot dead by Nick Fury himself — or, at least, Skrull villain Gravik, cruelly disguising himself as Samuel L. Jackson. Writing out a character who has been with the franchise since Phase One in such a brutal fashion felt unnecessary and gratuitous for much of the MCU fandom, so it’s unlikely that Marvel’s attempts to explain its actions will win over any detractors.
Speaking in Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Secret Invasion, writer and EP Brian Tucker attempted to provide some insight into why Maria apparently had to die, with the Secret Invasion team feeling that to “really illustrate the scale” of the threat of the Skrulls then someone had to meet a sticky end. Therefore, they had to make some “tough decisions” about who lives and who dies. As Tucker explained:
“One of the kind of just most important decisions that we had to make early on was to really illustrate the scale and the reality of the danger that Gravik and his rebels pose to humans. And to do that, we couldn’t allow all of our characters to make it out safely. This is a contest for the planet. It’s being fought on the ground and it’s gonna be bloody. There will be casualties in this conflict, and that means making those tough decisions to say goodbye to beloved characters.”
Essentially, Tucker is echoing the classic Walking Dead logic here, as AMC’s apocalyptic drama is famous for killing off character after character in order to depict the harshness of its zombie dystopia. That’s all well and good, then, but it doesn’t necessarily explain why Maria specifically had to be “fridged” — the term often used to describe when a female character is killed off in a visceral way simply in order to further the male protagonist’s storyline. Secret Invasion promised to allow Maria as much space to be further explored as a character as Fury, but sadly this opportunity was taken away from both actress and audience as soon as the show began.