Maria Hill
Maria Hill, from Secret Invasion #5.
Art by Leinil Francis Yu.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceThe New Avengers #4
(March 2005)
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoMaria Christina Hill
SpeciesHuman
Team affiliations
PartnershipsNick Fury
Iron Man
Captain America
Notable aliasesDirector Hill
Commander Hill
Deputy Commander Hill
Abilities
  • Expert marksman and mastery of various other weapons
  • Trained hand-to-hand combatant
  • Highly trained in weaponry

Commander Maria Christina Hill is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, the character first appeared in The New Avengers #4 (March 2005). As a former Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., she appears in various storylines which often feature the Avengers or members of that group.

Cobie Smulders portrayed Maria Hill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), appearing in the films The Avengers (2012), Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). Additionally, Smulders appeared as the character in the television series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., voiced alternate timeline versions of the character in the Disney+ animated series What If...? (2021), and guest starred as the character in the first two episodes of the television series Secret Invasion (2023).

Publication history

Maria Hill first appeared in The New Avengers #4 (March 2005), and was created by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch.[1]

Joe Quesada, who was Marvel's editor-in-chief during her first appearance, describes the character thus: "[Hill] is such a strong personality, she's like a force of nature and quite frankly, while perhaps not immediately loved by all involved, she's certainly as strong and imposing a figure as Nick Fury. Right now I feel that people view her as the outsider but [while] I don't think she's any harsher than Fury has ever been, what's different is that we aren't quite clear about her motives."[2]

She appeared as a supporting character in the 2010–2013 Avengers series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through its final issue, #34 (January 2013), but only appeared sporadically after the first half of its run.

In 2014, she was a regular character in Black Widow and Secret Avengers.

Fictional character biography

Introduction

Maria Hill was born in Chicago, Illinois.[3] She joins the United States armed forces and later becomes an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.[4] After Nick Fury's removal as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. due to the fallout of unauthorized strike on Latveria, Hill is made director of S.H.I.E.L.D.[5]

The Avengers suspect Hill of being complicit in various crimes, but lack evidence to prove it. At the same time, Hill suspects the group's latest incarnation are harboring an illicit agenda in connection with the "House of M" affair. She abducts Spider-Man and the Vision to question the two about the situation.[6] She earns Iron Man's respect when she ignores the President of the United States's orders to nuke an island while the Avengers are on it.[7]

"Civil War"

In the 2006–2007 storyline "Civil War", Captain America refuses to assist Commander Hill in preparations to arrest any superheroes who refuse to comply with the Superhuman Registration Act due to seeing such activity as politically motivated. Hill argued that the will of the American people must be obeyed, attempting to arrest Captain America who fights out of the Helicarrier and escapes.[8] After the Superhuman Registration Act passes into law, Hill is one of the leading enforcers. She blackmails Wonder Man into actively supporting the S.H.I.E.L.D. crusade to hunt down the superheroes opposed to the Superhuman Registration Act. She sends Kree supersoldier Noh-Varr (already brainwashed) to capture the Runaways. She directs the Thunderbolts to capture Spider-Man; the Thunderbolts' two members sent out, Jester and Jack O'Lantern, are slain by the Punisher.[9] After foiling an attack on Stark Tower, Hill thinks that she does not want her job as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and thinks she should not have been offered the position in the first place.[10] At the conclusion, the President appoints Tony Stark as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Hill (displeased) as acting deputy director.[11]

Deputy Director

After being made Deputy Director, Hill becomes a core member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. cabinet and assists Stark in dealing with a sudden rise in various terrorist groups who have gained access to hyper-advanced biological weapons. Unlike the rest of the cabinet (including Sal Kennedy whom she loathed personally), Hill remains skeptical of a single conspiracy behind all these attacks.[12] When the Mandarin's neoplastic tumor began infecting the Helicarrier, Hill organizes the evacuation; she (wrongly) believed the infection is the main objective of the attack.[13] Subsequently, however, Hill becomes much more trusting in Stark's leadership, a trusted agent in her role as Deputy Director and far less bound by conventional process, particularly after a confrontation with Dum Dum Dugan, in which she's forced to confront the fact that she was apparently willing to take actions that would allow innocent people to die while still sticking to "the book" because the alternative was to disobey orders.[14] She eventually risks her career by locking down the United Nations under S.H.I.E.L.D. martial law so Stark can escape a tribunal and track down the Mandarin.[15]

2008–2010 storylines

During the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Hill is left in charge in Man's absence. After the Helicarrier is disabled, Hill confronts a number of extraterrestrial Skrulls shapeshifters who can assume the appearance of anyone or anything, such as Edwin Jarvis and a number of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.[16] The Skrulls execute her but she is revealed to be a Life Model Decoy. Hill then activates the Helicarrier's self-destruct system, killing all the Skrull infiltrators on board, escaping via jet pack.[17]

During the "Dark Reign" storyline, S.H.I.E.L.D is disbanded by the President, Hill and Stark lose their jobs, and are replaced by Norman Osborn who then reforms the fallen remains into H.A.M.M.E.R.[18] In the Iron Man monthly series, Hill tries to go about having a normal life but Osborn dispatches H.A.M.M.E.R. to arrest her for theft. She joins her former boss as a fugitive after Iron Man stole the Superhuman Registration Database. The night before Stark leaves, the two have a sexual tryst.[19] Hill is sent on a mission by Stark to retrieve a hard drive. Hill finds the Controller holed up in the basement of Futurepharm, hooked into a large machine holding many people in containers. She barely manages to escape him, before downloading the data Tony sent her for. The skirmish with the Controller would leave her in a state of paranoia for a while. She then enlists the Black Widow to deliver the data to Captain America, all the while evading H.A.M.M.E.R. agents. However, they are captured when H.A.M.M.E.R. intercepts an e-mail from Stark. They are rescued by Pepper Potts.[20]

During the 2010 "Siege" storyline, Hill comes to the aid of Thor after Osborn launches an attack on Asgard.[21] Hill becomes a supporting cast member in the Iron Man series, protecting her friends from multiple threats.[22] In the 2010 "Heroic Age" storyline, which followed "Siege", Hill is appointed by Captain Steve Rogers to work with a new team of Avengers.[23]

2010 to the present

Following the apparent death of Fury, she was appointed commander, then acting director, and finally director of S.H.I.E.L.D. following Daisy Johnson's actions that involved the Secret Avengers invading A.I.M. Island.[24]

During the "Avengers: Standoff!" storyline, Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. have established Pleasant Hill, a super villain prison designed to resemble a gated community. While working at Pleasant Hill, Hill operates as the Mayor of Pleasant Hills. A training video for the S.H.I.E.L.D. cadets working there showed that she and the S.H.I.E.L.D. scientists have used reality-warping technology derived from the Cosmic Cube called "Kobik" as a demonstration was used where Graviton is turned into the mild-mannered Pleasant Hill chef Howie Howardson.[25] Rogers is brought before Hill, telling her of the knowledge that the Kobik project was not disposed of. Hill presented the inhabitants of Pleasant Hill to Rogers: she mentions that the citizens are reformed supervillains. When Rogers demanded to know where were the Cosmic Cube fragments used for Kobik, she revealed the eerie little girl who was the fragments of the Cosmic Cube that have taken the form of a near-omnipotent child.[26]

Following the "Civil War II" storyline, Hill was later seen being kidnapped by Diablo who attempted to extract the security code clearances for all the active helicarriers and the Triskelion, when she was rescued by Victor Von Doom.[27]

Powers and abilities

Maria Hill is an extremely effective commander, leader, tactician, and military strategist. She is a highly skilled martial artist and hand-to-hand fighter, as well as being a proficient marksman and armed combatant.

Reception

Accolades

  • In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Maria Hill 37th in their "Let's rank every Avenger ever" list.[28]
  • In 2019, CBR.com ranked Maria Hill 2nd in their "10 Best S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Of All Time" list.[29]
  • In 2020, Scary Mommy included Maria Hill in their "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic" list.[30]
  • In 2020, CBR.com ranked Maria Hill 2nd in their "10 Best Directors To Lead S.H.I.E.L.D." list.[31]
  • In 2021, CBR.com ranked Maria Hill 4th in their "10 Best Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D." list.[32]
  • In 2022, The A.V. Club ranked Maria Hill 83rd in their "100 best Marvel characters" list.[33]

Other versions

MC2

In the world of the MC2 universe, Maria Hill is a member of the National Security Force. When a government assignment went awry a piece of the Carnage symbiote was released. The Symbiote was stopped by Spider-Girl, the daughter of Spider-Man, as she later reported the success to that world's Nick Fury. She is later seen accusing American Dream of the A-Next, for crimes against the US, as the heroine stumbles upon a government mission.[34]

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Maria Hill is an ex-S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent and a homicide detective currently working for the NYPD. She first appears while questioning Miles Morales about the death of Aaron Davis. This investigation led to the discovery that Spider-Man wasn't the killer as the press believed and that Davis had an accidental death when a weapon backfired.[35] She is the one working on the Venom case that involved a home invasion into the Morales house and hurt his father. She notices that Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson, Ganke Lee and Miles quickly went into his home. She illegally barges in, but is coy with the kids, only to be thwarted by Gwen's knowledge of law due to her deceased father, and Mary Jane recording her on her tablet. Maria definitely suspects Miles as Spider-Man. Suddenly, there is word that Venom is attacking the hospital where Miles father and mother are at. Maria yells at Miles telling him to save the citizens at the hospital. Miles scales the light post and buildings in front of Maria confirming that he is Spider-Man.

Old Woman Laura

In a possible future, a scarred, cyborg Hill is head of the joint Chiefs of Staff under President Kamala Khan. She joins Laura Kinney on an attack on Latveria, where Doctor Doom reigns as the last active supervillain. When the group pass under the energy dome around the city, Maria's cybernetics shut down. Though she is still able to do her part by use of a special bullet hiding a miniaturized Wasp. During a battle against a horde of Doombots, one of the machines fires a laser blast that goes right through Laura and lethally wounds Maria.[36]

In other media

Television

Maria Hill as depicted in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes

Film

Marvel Cinematic Universe

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill as she appears in The Avengers

Maria Hill appears in media set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), portrayed by Cobie Smulders. This version is a close friend of Nick Fury and ally of the Avengers. Throughout her appearances, she initially serves as deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D. before joining Stark Industries following the organization's dissolution, and falls victim to the Blip before she is killed by Skrull rebel Gravik while helping Fury stop him. Hill first appears in the live-action films The Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier,[41] Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War,[42] and Avengers: Endgame,[43][44] Additionally, Hill appears in the live-action TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.[45][46][47][48][49][50][51] and the live-action Disney+ miniseries Secret Invasion[52] while the Skrull Soren assumes Hill's likeness in the live-action film Spider-Man: Far From Home.[53] Furthermore, Smulders voices alternate timeline variants of Hill in the Disney+ animated series What If...?.[54]

Video games

Miscellaneous

Maria Hill appears in Marvel Universe LIVE!.[58]

See also

References

  1. ↑ DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 170. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
  2. ↑ Quesada, Joe. "Joe Fridays". Newsarama. Archived November 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Secret War #5
  4. ↑ Iron Man: World's Most Wanted
  5. ↑ Bendis, Brian Michael; Dell'Otto, Gabriele (2009). Secret War. Marvel Comics. p. 256. ISBN 978-0-7851-4228-7.
  6. ↑ The New Avengers #19. Marvel Comics.
  7. ↑ The New Avengers #20. Marvel Comics.
  8. ↑ Mark Millar (w), Steven McNiven (p), Dexter Vines (i). Civil War, no. 1 (July 2006). Marvel Comics.
  9. ↑ The Punisher War Journal. Marvel Comics.
  10. ↑ The New Avengers #25. Marvel Comics.
  11. ↑ Civil War #7. Marvel Comics.
  12. ↑ Iron Man, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15. Marvel Comics.
  13. ↑ Iron Man, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. #18. Marvel Comics.
  14. ↑ Iron Man #26. Marvel Comics.
  15. ↑ Iron Man #28. Marvel Comics.
  16. ↑ Secret Invasion #4. Marvel Comics.
  17. ↑ Secret Invasion #5. Marvel Comics.
  18. ↑ Secret Invasion #8. Marvel Comics.
  19. ↑ Fraction, Matt (w), Larocca, Salvador (a). The Invincible Iron Man #10. Marvel Comics.
  20. ↑ Fraction, Matt (w), Larocca, Salvador (a). The Invincible Iron Man #11–18. Marvel Comics.
  21. ↑ Siege #3. Marvel Comics.
  22. ↑ The Invincible Iron Man #20–28 (2008–2009). Marvel Comics.
  23. ↑ The Avengers vol. 4 #1. Marvel Comics.
  24. ↑ Secret Avengers vol. 2 #1-8. Marvel Comics.
  25. ↑ Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1. Marvel Comics.
  26. ↑ Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha #1. Marvel Comics.
  27. ↑ Infamous Iron Man #1. Marvel Comics.
  28. ↑ April 29, Darren Franich Updated; EDT, 2015 at 12:00 PM. "Let's rank every Avenger ever". EW.com. Retrieved 2022-12-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ Kantor, Jonathan H. (2019-07-07). "The 10 Best S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents Of All Time, Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  30. ↑ "Looking For A Role Model? These 195+ Marvel Female Characters Are Truly Heroic". Scary Mommy. 29 November 2021. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  31. ↑ Goodwillie, Ian (2020-06-05). "The 10 Best Directors To Lead S.H.I.E.L.D., Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  32. ↑ O'Brien, Megan Nicole (2021-04-29). "Marvel: 10 Best Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Ranked". CBR. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  33. ↑ "The 100 best Marvel characters ranked". The A.V. Club. 2022-07-09. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  34. ↑ American Dream #1–5. Marvel Comics.
  35. ↑ Ultimate Comics Spider-Man vol. 2 #15. Marvel Comics.
  36. ↑ All-New Wolverine #33-34
  37. ↑ "Marvel's Avengers Assemble Season 1, Ep. 26 – Clip 2". YouTube. 22 May 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-05-23.
  38. ↑ "The Final Showdown". Avengers Assemble. Season 1. Episode 26. May 25, 2014. Disney XD.
  39. ↑ "Marvel Anime Age – Iron Man: Rise of Technovore". toonzone.net.
  40. ↑ "'Marvel's Avengers Confidential': See the trailer here!". Entertainment Weekly's EW.com.
  41. ↑ Graser, Marc (October 29, 2012). "Frank Grillo to play Crossbones in 'Captain America' sequel". Variety. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2012.
  42. ↑ Jimmy Kimmel Live! (October 17, 2016). Cobie Smulders Spills the Beans on Avengers: Infinity War and it was Everything!. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2016-10-18. Retrieved October 17, 2016. Cobie finally spills the beans on the next Marvel movie she's in – The Avengers: Infinity War." (from the video's description) Alt URL
  43. ↑ Hood, Cooper (April 27, 2019). "Every Character In Avengers: Endgame". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 28, 2019.
  44. ↑ Buchanan, Kyle (August 7, 2018). "Spider-Man: Far From Home Adds Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders". Vulture.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2018. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  45. ↑ Goldberg, Lesley (July 19, 2013). "Cobie Smulders' Comic-Con Reveal: Secret 'Agents of SHIELD' Role". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 19, 2013.
  46. ↑ Thompson, Bob (November 7, 2013). "Vancouver's Cobie Smulders is on a roll (with video)". Calgary Herald. Archived from the original on November 8, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2013.
  47. ↑ Whedon, Joss (director); Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon & Maurissa Tancharoen (writer) (September 24, 2013). "Pilot". Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1. Episode 1. ABC.
  48. ↑ Gierhart, Billy (director); Paul Zbyszewski & DJ Doyle (writer) (April 29, 2014). "Nothing Personal". Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1. Episode 20. ABC.
  49. ↑ Tancharoen, Kevin (director); Brent Fletcher & Drew Z. Greenberg (writer) (April 28, 2015). "The Dirty Half Dozen". Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 2. Episode 19. ABC.
  50. ↑ Harnick, Chris (July 22, 2014). "Lucy Lawless Joins Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and We're Geeking Out". E! Online. Retrieved July 22, 2014.
  51. ↑ "Cobie Smulders Talks About Maria Hill". YouTube. April 15, 2015.
  52. ↑ Kroll, Justin (December 1, 2021). "Cobie Smulders To Reprise Maria Hill Role in Marvel Series 'Secret Invasion'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  53. ↑ Abad-Santos, Alex (July 2, 2019). "Spider-Man: Far From Home's 2 end-credits scenes set up Marvel's future". Vox. Archived from the original on July 3, 2019. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  54. ↑ Campbell, Scott (August 1, 2021). "Here Are All the Marvel Actors Doing Voices in 'What If...?'". Collider. Archived from the original on August 2, 2021. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  55. ↑ "Voice Compare » Marvel Universe » Maria Hill". Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  56. ↑ Piecing Together Marvel Puzzle Quest: Maria Hill
  57. ↑ Kaptan, Doruk (2022-12-08). "Marvel Snap: Every Pool 4 Card, Ranked". TheGamer. Retrieved 2022-12-30.
  58. ↑ "New Images Reveal The Superheroines Of 'Marvel Universe Live!'". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 2014-07-17.
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