The MCU Proved Maria Hill Could’ve Taken Nick Fury’s SHIELD Job

The MCU Proved Maria Hill Could’ve Taken Nick Fury’s SHIELD Job

Maria Hill became Acting Director of SHIELD in What If…? episode 7 and she proved she could replace Nick Fury as a leader in the main MCU timeline.

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The MCU Proved Maria Hill Could’ve Taken Nick Fury’s SHIELD Job

Warning: SPOILERS for Marvel’s What If…? Episode 7 – “What If… Thor Were An Only Child?”

Marvel’s What If…? episode 7 finally showed Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) becoming Acting Director of SHIELD, proving that Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) longtime second-in-command deserved the top job all along. In the show, SHIELD intervenes at the behest of Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who warned of an imminent alien invasion. But, although this turned out to be a worthy Thor (Chris Hemsworth) throwing an epic party for many of the most powerful cosmic beings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hill showed herself to be an extremely capable Fury replacement.

Maria Hill was created in 2005 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch, and she has been one of the most pivotal SHIELD characters in Marvel Comics for over 15 years. Hill became Director of SHIELD in the comics and she is a major player in the events of the Marvel Universe, clashing with everyone from Tony Stark to Steve Rogers to Jessica Jones. However, Maria hasn’t received the same emphasis in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Hill made her MCU debut in The Avengers and, in all of her appearances, she has been a loyal deputy to Nick Fury, even after SHIELD was discovered to be Hydra and was dissolved. In the MCU, Hill featured in Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: Far From Home (although Hill and Fury were really Skrulls).

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Although Maria Hill held the rank of Commander and rose up to be Deputy Director of SHIELD in the MCU, she never got to have Nick Fury’s job – until What If…? episode 7. After Fury is accidentally injured by Korg (Taika Waititi), Hill assumes the role of Acting Director and has to oversee SHIELD’s response to Thor and his coterie of aliens partying all over the globe. Since the Avengers are yet to assemble at this point in the alternate timeline, Hill follows Fury’s playbook and summons Captain Marvel (Alexandra Daniels) to handle Thor. The Acting Director also had to counter the enthusiasm among her own people like Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) to resort to a nuclear strike before Captain Marvel put a stop to Thor’s party. Her decisive actions prove once and for all that she has what it takes to be SHIELD director.

In many cases, Hill is portrayed as even more no-nonsense than Fury, but it’s ultimately her unwavering loyalty to her boss that defines her. Interestingly, Joss Whedon had different initial plans for Hill. Deleted scenes from The Avengers showed Hill bargaining with the World Security Council to push Fury out and take his job as SHIELD’s top dog, although she eventually sided with Nick after the Council illegally authorized a nuclear strike on New York City. Whedon decided to cut these scenes to keep Nick Fury and Maria Hill as a rock-solid team, and that has held firm throughout the rest of their appearances together in the MCU thus far.

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For Marvel fans who were always disappointed that Maria Hill never got to be more than Nick Fury’s sidekick in the MCU, her promotion in What If…? was worth the wait. Although she had to weigh the differing opinions from her SHIELD agents, Captain Marvel, and Dr. Jane Foster on how to best respond to Thor and his epic party, Hill showed she had the patience and good judgment to effectively lead SHIELD during a global crisis as opposed to remaining as a supporting player in Fury’s shadow.

Since one of the benefits of Marvel’s What If…? is seeing different scenarios from what has played out in the mainline MCU, Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill replacing Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury as Director of SHIELD turned out to be the success Hill’s fans hoped. It remains to be seen whether Maria Hill will ever replace Nick Fury as the top intelligence agent in the MCU’s Sacred Timeline, but hopefully, Hill can prove her mettle in live-action during her expected role alongside Fury in Disney+’s Secret Invasion.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/what-if-nick-fury-shield-director-maria-hill-replace/

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