Countdown to Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Day 18: Maria Hill

We at GeekMom are eagerly counting down the days to the premiere of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD on September 24. To see all the previous posts, check out the Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. tag.

We’ve talked previously about elements and characters that date back to the origins of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 1965 but today we’re tackling a character that appeared first in this century and quickly rose to prominence in the Marvel universe: Maria Hill.

Hill was created in 2005 by Brian M. Bendis and David Finch.

I never liked her.

My reaction to the reports of her presence in The Avengers was “Hill? Why can’t they use Sharon Carter/Agent 13?” But, as I watched the movie, I changed my mind, at least a little bit.

Part of my dislike is because comic universe Hill was immediately in conflict with Nick Fury and a number of Marvel heroes. The first comic I read that contained Hill featured her trying to arrest Captain America. Needless to say, it didn’t go well for her and her character made a very negative impression on me. (This may have been the point.) But she’s been more of an ally of late so it’s possible she could get on my good side, especially with Cobie Smulders playing the part.

So, some fun facts:

• Maria Hill has destroyed a helicarrier. (Well, neither Fury nor HYDRA were around that day. Someone had to do it.)
• She once had an affair with Tony Stark/Iron Man.
• She used a LMD (as one does) to avoid being killed by Skrulls. (The Skrulls having taken over the helicarrier, hence the reason she destroyed it.)
• She replaced Nick Fury as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Tony Stark then replaced Hill as Director.
• Smulders was Whedon’s choice to play Wonder Woman in the movie project that Warner Bros. scrapped. Smulders is currently voicing Wonder Woman in The Lego Movie. No official word yet on whether she’ll become a regular on the S.H.I.E.L.D. show once How I Met Your Mother wraps their last season.

In other words, Hill’s been pretty busy for being only 13 years old.