Marvel’s lowest-rated series featured a few major deaths for the MCU, and it still feels like these characters deserved better 1 year later.

G'iah stares out the window in Secret Invasion while Nick Fury looks surprised

Marvel Studio’s lowest-rated series included two significant MCU deaths that hurt worse than they did one year ago. It’s been over a year since Marvel’s Secret Invasion appeared on Disney+. While the series started strong, it unraveled quickly and became the lowest-rated Marvel series, especially its finale. Secret Invasion suffered from low viewership, only reaching 994,000 viewers within its first five days. Despite this, the series was highly anticipated by comic book readers due to its source material, but many found it an underwhelming release that wasted one of Marvel’s most iconic storylines for the MCU timeline.

While the show was disappointing, it did have some shocking moments. Marvel isn’t known for killing many of its characters, but Secret Invasion included the deaths of two major characters; Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos, and Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill. Both of these characters appeared in multiple MCU movies, but died in the Disney+ series, leaving plenty unaware they’d even been killed off as a result. These endings didn’t sit right with many viewers, and they still don’t one year later.

Maria Hill’s And Talos’ deaths in Secret Invasion Were Wasted

Cobie Smulders as Maria Hill in Secret Invasion in glasses looking offscreen

Maria Hill first appeared in The Avengers as the Deputy Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Nick Fury’s right hand. Smulders reprised the role several times throughout the MCU, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Spider-Man: Far From Home. She was a valuable asset to the Avengers, and to Fury as one of his most loyal agents. Talos debuted in Captain Marvel as a general of the Skrull Council who showed the truth about the Kree to Carol Danvers. He also appeared in a post-credits scene in Far From Home before returning in Secret Invasion.

During the series, both characters are killed by Gravik, the villainous Skrull determined to turn the Earth into the Skrull’s new home. Neither character received heroic deaths, as both were unceremoniously killed in battle. They were also used as emotional motivation, with Hill’s death occurred early to give Nick Fury more to fight for. Similarly, Talos’ death was used as a way to inspire G’iah to fight Gravik in a CGI-filled confrontation. While Hill and Talos weren’t central characters in the MCU, they were still impactful heroes who deserved more attention for their conclusions.

Secret Invasion’s Events Don’t Seem Important To The MCU

Nick Fury on the phone in the shadows in Secret Invasion

Another unfortunate aspect of Hill’s and Talos’ deaths is that the events of Secret Invasion may not be important to the MCU. The Marvels, which included Nick Fury and Skrulls, didn’t mention anything that happened in Secret Invasion once, and the events seemingly had no impact on Fury- or at least, not one that has been actively explored. In The Marvels, a group of Skrulls are sent to New Asgard on Earth as a possible new home, with no mention of the president’s declaration of war against their species.

Secret Invasion also didn’t get high viewership numbers for an MCU series, so many haven’t seen Hill and Talos’ deaths, and may not even be aware they’re now dead in the franchise. Given the overarching events of Secret Invasion haven’t yet been referenced, there’s a very real chance these deaths will never be addressed again, since they don’t seem to factor into the MCU’s current story. As such, it’s unlikely the issues with these deaths will get a later adjustment or payoff anytime in the near future.