In retrospect, this one Maria Hill detail from ‘Secret Invasion’ makes absolutely no sense

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the first episode of Secret Invasion.

When the season premiere of Secret Invasion dropped on Disney Plus, the aftermath of the first episode sent shock waves throughout the Marvel fandom. Here was a show that promised to get back to the street-level, political stuff we love so much about Marvel, and then bam! — before we even get a chance to appreciate Cobie Smulders’ return as Maria Hill, she’s shot and killed. 

The last time we saw Hill was in Spider-Man: Far From Home when she shape-shifted into a Skrull in the passenger seat of Nick Fury’s car. Before that, it was in Avengers: Endgame. As the former Deputy Director and Commander of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury’s right hand, exploring her character in a six-episode espionage thriller was, well – thrilling. 

Then Marvel went and killed her. Or, if we’re being specific, Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) did by shape-shifting into Nick Fury and fooling her into thinking she was safe right before putting a bullet in her stomach. And that’s the problem. A bullet never should have been able to penetrate her stomach.  

One does not simply forget the bare necessities of being on the battlefield

Before her death, Maria Hill appeared in half a dozen Marvel movies, helped save the world by overseeing the Avengers Initiative, and become as much a trained fighter on the battlefield as she was a skilled tactician behind the scenes. Do you mean to tell me that she would go out on the streets — nay, an active war zone — and not wear a bulletproof vest? Really?

Hill — and Fury — knew that G’iah (Emilia Clarke) was attempting to transport bombs on behalf of Gravik. She knew that Gravik was trying to detonate said bombs on the streets of Russia to provoke a war with the United States. She knew that would likely mean engaging in hand-to-hand combat, not to mention being in the presence of explosives. Forget the civilian disguise she’s wearing, when Hill is shot, she looks as shocked as we felt that she succumbed to such a simple death after everything she’d been through. 

Things slip through the cracks all the time, but how the team at Secret Invasion didn’t think to fix a script in which Maria Hill ventures into battle without a bulletproof vest is beyond me. It comes down to negligence.

Marvel can get away with a lot thanks to the fantastical playground it rolls around in. Apparently, that includes senseless murder. Guess we can add this to the growing list of plot holes threatening to eclipse the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. Sigh.

If you’re willing to stomach the loss of an MCU legend, Secret Invasion is available to stream on Disney Plus.