Who died in Secret Invasion? (Is their death real or faked?)

Secret Invasion had a wild premiere that seemed to culminate in the death of a big character. But are they truly gone or not?

Caution: This article contains SPOILERS for Secret Invasion episode 1

Secret Invasion has Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) returning to Earth to face a faction of Skrulls, the shape-changing aliens from Captain Marvel. Fury had been shown to be aiding the Skrulls in trying to find a new home planet. However, some Skrulls have gotten tired of this and decided to simply conquer Earth.

Fury reunites with aide Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders), who’s felt put out as Fury has ignored some calls for help over the last few years. They work with Skrull ally Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) as they learn the renegade Skrulls are planning to set off World War III to wipe out humanity so they can claim the planet.

Part of this involves setting off bombs at a festival in Moscow and making it look like it was the work of an American group. Fury, Hill, and Talos head there, doing their best to track the other Skrulls but are unable to stop the bombs from going off.

Amid the chaos, Hill meets with Fury, only for “Fury” to shoot her in the stomach and reveal themselves as a Skrull. The real Fury finds Hill, who gasps about who he is before seemingly dying. Talos drags Fury away as the episode ends focused on Hill’s body.

Is Maria Hill truly dead?

It seems Maria Hill is the classic “sacrificial lamb” to sell the stakes of the story. It’s also heartbreaking that her killer was wearing the face of the man she trusted the most to make it worse. Her death should spur Fury on to take the Skrulls down.

However, there can be some doubt on if Hill is truly gone. After all, this is a show involving shapechangers, so it’s possible this wasn’t the real Hill but one of Talos’ Skrull allies standing in for her. Remember, Talos impersonated Fury himself with his late wife posing as Hill, so the real Hill may have been wary of joining Fury on this mission.

There’s also how Fury is the master spy who faked his own death once. He and Hill could have cooked this thing up to make the Skrulls think Hill was dead and let her investigate them on her own and be the backup in case things get worse.

So while it appears that Maria Hill is gone, in a show like Secret Invasion, it’s best not to take anything at face value.

Secret Invasion streams new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+.