Maria Hill - Marvel Cinematic Universe Guide - IGN (2024)

Agent Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders)

Maria Hill is one of Nick Fury's best S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Appearing for the first time in the Avengers, she has been seen as one of Fury's most capable agents, and one whom he trusts. Both a competent field agent and a right-hand woman of Fury, Hill has a key role in the fight against Loki.

She aids Nick Fury by helping to pilot and direct the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the Helicarrier but she does not directly get invovled with the recruitment in the Avengers. She feels the Avenger's Initiative is a risky idea likely to backfire and cause more harm than good.

Maria Hill joinedS.H.I.E.L.D.and rose through its ranks, at one point working inMadripoorand becoming one of the organization's best agents. By the time of the War for Earth, Hill had already caught the eye of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s directorNick Furyand had been appointed Deputy Director.

Hill approved the transfer of AgentMelinda Mayfrom being an active field agent to working in the administration department.

Maria Hill and Nick Fury visitedthe main facilityof Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.to monitor the strange amount of energy that the Tesseractwas emitting. Upon hearing that the Tesseract was unstable, Fury ordered her to ensure that thePhase 2prototypes were shipped out. During their visit,Lokiwas transported to Earth through the power of the Tesseract. He enthralled several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents while killing others.

After obtaining theTesseract,Lokiused two enthralled agents,Clint BartonandErik Selvigto escape on a S.H.I.E.L.D. truck. Seeing this, Hill pursued them, engaging in a firefight in the facility's tunnel system but failing to stop Loki. The portal that Loki had arrived in began to collapse and created a powerful surge of energy that collapsed all the area around it destroying the facility. Hill was trapped by rubble, but survived. She radioedNick Fury, informing him of what had happened and asking him what they should do. He told her that they were now at war.

After the destruction of the Joint Dark Energy Facility, Hill reported back to theHelicarrierand aided in the administration of events. She was present when Fury brought together theAvengersand was immediately uneasy about the alliance of the heroes. WhenTony Starkarrived and began talking in great detail about howErik Selvig could use the Tesseract, Hill questioned when he had become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics and Stark replied that he had last night. Hill did not see Tony Stark planting a device on the Helicarrier's computer to download all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files.

Maria Hill andPhil Coulsonwatched on a monitor as Nick Fury and the Avengers argued while under the influence of Loki'sScepter. This was interrupted whenClint Bartonused an explosive arrow which made the Helicarrier malfunction and start losing altitude.Maria Hillquickly realized that the engine was down and ordered someone to get the engine going again.Tony Starkagreed to repair the engine, with the assistance ofSteve Rogers. Hill and Nick Furystayed in the control room and ensured that the invading forces did not take control of the Helicarrier.

After the attack, she was informed that AgentPhil Coulsonhad been killed byLokiand was present whenNick Furygave a speech to Steve RogersandTony Stark, explaining his intentions with the Tesseractand the reasons for forming the Avengers. She approached Fury a little while later and explained how she knew that Coulson'svintage trading cardsthat Fury had shown Captain Rogers were not in Coulson's jacket as Fury has claimed, but in his locker. Fury defended himself stating that they "needed the push". The lie was eventually successful in causing theAvengersto unite and attack Loki.

Hill monitored theBattle of New York, and informed Fury that the World Security Councilhad taken control of a S.H.I.E.L.D. plane, for the purpose of bombingNew York Cityto stop theChitauriInvasion. Despite the best efforts of Hill and Nick Fury, the plane took off and fired a missile at New York City. Hill watched the monitors as Iron Man successfully flew the missile into the worm hole and stopped Loki's invasion, although it appeared that Stark had been killed in the mission, he was able to be revived by the Avengers.

After the Avengers stopped the invasion she discussed whether or not the Avengers would stay together with Director Fury. Fury told her that they would, because the world would need them too, with this Hill walked back to the center of the Helicarrier and resumed her work.

Maria Hill was aware that Director Nick Fury usedProject T.A.H.I.T.I. to bring AgentPhil Coulsonback to life. She aided Fury in keeping the truth hidden from Coulson.She was also aware of AgentMelinda May's true purpose on the team.

Hill interviewed and evaluated AgentGrant Wardafter he successfully recovered aChitauri Neural Linkthat international criminalVanchatwas housing inParis. Having previously evaluated Ward, she assigned him to Agent Coulson's newly createdteamas he was promoted toClearance Level 7.

She also oversaw the team's first mission, to investigate theRising Tideand theHooded Hero. During this time, both she andDr. Streitentalked about their concern over Phil Coulson's status after his recovery inTahitifollowing his death and also about his lack of awareness over the true circ*mstances that surrounded his death.

Agent Coulson later reported directly to her afterMike Petersonwas successfully sedated inLos Angeles.

When Coulson was abducted by theCentipede Project, Hill wanted constant updates on the situation of the rescue mission coordinated by AgentVictoria Hand.

Maria Hill gave a random psychological assessment to AgentMark Smithon his day off from working field missions. She found him unfit for assignment and sent him toS.H.I.E.L.D. S.T.A.T.I.O.N..

Prior to the launch ofProject Insight,Nick Furycalled Hill to Washington, D.C.following his discovery of suspicious information aboutS.H.I.E.L.D.'s intentions for Project Insight. Fury ordered her to come to DC within the next few hours, a few seconds after the phone call ended,Nick Furywas attacked by HYDRA.

After Nick Fury'sapparent deathat the hands of theWinter Soldier, Hill took Fury to a secret location so that he could heal and they could gather information about the truth about what was going on atS.H.I.E.L.D..

She then returned to the Triskelion and met withJasper Sitwelltelling him that she was absent because she was arranging Fury's funeral. Sitwell showed Hill footage ofCaptain AmericaandBlack Widowon the run and questioned her about it. She answered simply that Captain America tended to inspire loyalty. Sitwell replied, saying that Alexander Pierce was moving her off the case.

AfterCaptain America,Black Widow, and theFalcondiscovered HYDRA's infiltration of the organization and were captured during a battle with the Winter Soldier, Hill managed to attack a HYDRA guard and take his uniform. She snuck onto the vehicle carrying Captain Rogers, Romanoff and Wilson and used aTaser Rodto knock out the other guard. She freed them and escaped with the help of aMouse Holedevice. She brought them toNick Fury's location and got medical assistance for an injured Romanoff.

There, she revealed to the three that Fury was not dead, and that they had developed a way to stop Project Insight but needed the group's help. They explained their plan to board the Helicarriers and change the chips inside to cause the Helicarriers' weapons to target each other rather than innocent people. Rogers explained his intentions to destroy both S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA, as he believed that although HYDRA was the enemy, S.H.I.E.L.D. was a broken system, Hill agreed with Rogers and helped convince Fury that it was the right thing to do.

Hill broke into the Triskelion withCaptain AmericaandFalconand coordinated them in their attempt to disable and destroy Project Insight. While Rogers and Wilson disabled the Helicarriers, Romanoff infiltrated the main conference room to captureAlexander Piercewith the help ofNick Fury. Hill stayed in the command center, ordering and tracking the team during the mission. She defended herself several times from attacking HYDRA Agents.

During the battle Rogers became trapped on board theHelicarrier, he ordered Hill to make the Helicarriers fire at each other with him still aboard, despite her protests she did as ordered and theProject InsightHelicarriers were destroyed. Rogers survived the crash, and Pierce was killed by Nick Fury. Romanoff leaked all of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA's files onto the internet, effectively destroying S.H.I.E.L.D.

After the battle at theTriskelionleftS.H.I.E.L.D.in shambles, Hill visited the Human Resources department ofStark Industries,and was interviewed for a job. This was a move to protect herself from prison (the protection coming from Stark Industries' lawyers rather than Stark himself) as well as to allow her to continue maintaining global security.

While working for Stark Industries she was interviewed and questioned by various intelligence agencies from around the world including theCIA, theNSA, and theNRO. She was also interviewed by Congress, which to her were the most stressful meetings because in her view they acted like children. Despite working for Stark, she was still constantly under high-level surveillance by multiple agencies including an unknown Russian agency.

One night inWashington, D.C., while complaining toPepper Potts about the hearings, Hill noticed the many poorly-concealed (in Hill's mind) agents tailing her had been knocked out. She was generally unsurprised to meetMelinda Mayshortly thereafter. May revealed Phil Coulson's location and asked Hill to look in on him. She also wanted to know who was behindProject T.A.H.I.T.I., believing that it wasAlexander Pierce,Nick Fury's superior and secretly HYDRA operative. Hill confessed that she asked Fury before, but he only told her, "that he buried the intel when he decided not to bury Coulson." May guessed that it was a riddle she needed to solve and asked Hill if she could ask Fury directly, but Hill insisted that he was dead, though May did not believe her. Their conversation was cut short when theFBIshowed up, at which point Hill berated them for taking more than three minutes to locate her, something she would never have tolerated in her own agents.

Hill subsequently reported the location ofNick Fury's top secret Providencebase to theUnited States Armed Forcesin the hopes that its capture could be used to prevent Coulson and his team being sent to prison. ColonelGlenn Talbotand his men arrived first, causing a stand-off between him and Coulson's team, who had been hiding out in the base. Coulson demanded to know how Talbot found the base, at which point Hill arrived and revealed she had told him that she was the one who had informed Talbot.

Upon arriving at the base, Talbot questionedCoulson's Teamwhile Hill had a meeting with Coulson and tried in vain to get him to surrender the base to Talbot and his men; she told him to hand over some small pieces of intel about S.H.I.E.L.D., which just annoyed Coulson even more. Coulson refused and told her that their priority should be tracking down the traitorJohn GarrettandGrant Ward, who had been revealed to be an operative ofHYDRA, was responsible for the murders ofEric KoenigandVictoria Hand, and had recently kidnapped AgentSkye. Hill made her choice and helped Coulson fight off ColonelGlenn Talbotand his men, before she and Coulson's team escaped.

Coulson's team was able to track downGrant Wardwho was attempting to escape withSkyeandDeathlokin the Bus. Hill, in a S.H.I.E.L.D. Jump Jet, confronted Ward inLos Angelesand ordered him to surrender. Ward taunted her that Fury should have made Black Widowthe Deputy Director if he wanted eye candy. Hill did not take the bait and threatened to shoot Ward out of the sky if he tried to escape, Ward however made it clear that he knew it was an empty threat as Coulson would never allowSkyeto be sacrificed. Hill continued distracting Ward long enough to allow Coulson to sneak aboard the plane. Ward took off unaware of Coulson's presence; Coulson was successful and escaped the plane with Skye.

Later that night, Coulson took rooms in a small motel for him and his team; he asked Hill to set up tactical back-up for him as he prepared to attackJohn Garrett. Hill told him that there really was no S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Hill implored Coulson and his team to end their association with S.H.I.E.L.D. once Garrett had been stopped. She gave Coulson an offer to come work forTony Starkinstead of going off on his own, but Coulson declined. He asked her to say hello to Stark for him, but changed his mind when he remembered that Stark still believed he was dead. Hill then left without saying goodbye.

Hill was contacted byPhil Coulson, after he had successfully located theScepterwhich was in the possession of BaronWolfgang von StruckerinSokovia. The pair discussed therecent eventsat thePlaygroundwhich involvedRobert Gonzales' attempts to take control of the base. Both Coulson and Hill mocked Gonzales' method of having his team vote on every decision. With the location of the Scepter confirmed, Coulson ordered Hill to start theProtocol and send in theAvengersto take down theHYDRAbase and recapture it.

Concluding her conversation, Hill foundTony StarkandPepper Pottsengaged in a playful argument. She informed them thatJ.A.R.V.I.S.was assembling theAvengersto assistBlack Widow.

Following the successfulAttack on the HYDRA Research Baseand capture of both theScepterand BaronWolfgang von Strucker, Hill greeted theAvengersatAvengers Tower. AsHawkeyewas being taken to get medical attention, Hill spoke toCaptain Americaabout the Maximoff twins, whom they had encountered during the battle; Hill explained their powers in detail to Rogers, switching to less complicated terms to make it clear to him.

Hill was present at a party thrown byTony Starkat theAvengers Tower. Drinking with Stark, Thor, andCol. Rhodes, she snidely opined that Pepper Potts andJane Fosterhad intentionally missed the party. After the party, she sat with fellow former S.H.I.E.L.D. agentClint Bartonwhile many of the Avengers attempted to lift Thor's hammerMjølnirwithout success; Hill herself did not attempt to lift the hammer. The group was interrupted byUltron; Hill was the first to load her gun and joined the team in a fight against him and hisUltron Sentries. Eventually Ultron's body was destroyed and they were forced to make a plan to deal with the new threat.

Nick Furyrequested that Hill join him in planning support for the Avengers' battle against Ultron. Fury and Hill recruited former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents including technicianCameron Kleinand took possession of an old Helicarrier. When they arrived atSokoviathey found theAvengersengaged in a massive battle against the Ultron Sentries. Flying the Helicarrier in close, Hill sent out the rescue crafts to save the civilians whileWar Machineassisted in the battle. One of Ultron Sentries attacked the Helicarrier during the battle, but Hill and Fury fought and destroyed it before it did more harm to the ship. Eventually the battle was won, the civilians were saved andUltronwas destroyed forever.

Following the battle, Hill was present at theNew Avengers Facility, coordinating the efforts of the Avengers' new incarnation.