Maria Hill
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Maria Hill is a fictional character of the Marvel Universe. She is deputy commander of the planetary defense/intelligence service S.H.I.E.L.D..
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[edit] Biography
Born in Chicago (a fact revealed in Secret War #5), Hill had a brief stint in Madripoor that got her noticed by various heads of state and government around the world.
After the scandalous affair of the Secret War and its disastrous effect on New York City, S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury went into hiding. Maria Hill, viewed by the leaders of several nations as being both an efficient agent and, more importantly in their eyes, not directly loyal to Fury or any of his personal cadre, was appointed interim Executive Director. Hill's role has apparently not been announced to the public as yet; a Life Model Decoy of Fury is regularly used in public to maintain an illusion of normalcy within the Directorate's ranks. Hill is expected to be loyal to United States interests before those of the United Nations, which S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to serve before any other country.
Hill quickly established new policies on super-powered heroes, as requested by the President of the United States and his peers in other national governments: to end S.H.I.E.L.D. support for the heroes. These policies were in full effect when Hill tried to prevent the Avengers from re-forming.
In the wake of events in the Savage Land that led to their reorganization, the Avengers suspect her of being complicit in various crimes, but lack the evidence to prove her malfeasance. For her part, Hill has suspected the latest incarnation of the Avengers of harboring an illicit agenda in connection with, among other things, the House of M affair.
While her tough attitude has not made her very popular among the superhero community, she earned Iron Man's respect when she ignored the president's orders to nuke an island the Avengers were on.
[edit] Civil War
Maria Hill is directly responsible for Captain America going underground to lead the opposition against the Superhuman Registration Act. Weeks before the act became law, Hill summoned Captain America to gain insight into the developments inside the superhero community. When the Captain informed her that the registration issue was dividing heroes and setting them against each other, Hill attempted to force him into leading the Avengers in a pre-emptive measure to capture and detain heroes who would not consent to having their identities revealed. Since the act had not yet become law, the Captain dismissed her command as politically skewed, saying that heroes need to "stay above" such affairs.
Following Captain America's refusal, Hill summons a battalion of soldiers armed with tranquilizers. Left with no other choice, Captain America fights his way out of the Helicarrier, becoming a fugitive. As S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Hill is one of the leading enforcers of the Superhuman Registration Act, a task she carries out with relish and absolute ruthlessness. She blackmails Wonder Man into actively supporting S.H.I.E.L.D.'s crusade to hunt down the superheroes opposed to the Registration Act; sends Kree supersoldier Noh-Varr, already brainwashed, to capture the Runaways; and directs theThunderbolts to capture Spider-Man after he goes rogue.
After foiling an attack on Stark Tower, Maria Hill admits to Tony Stark (with the film A Few Good Men in mind; she had tried to make this exact speech a few weeks prior to this following their skirmish with Magneto) that she doesn't want her job as director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and thinks she shouldn't have been offered it in the first place. She suggests that the only other person besides Nick Fury who should lead the organization is Stark himself.
At the conclusion of the Civil War, the president of the United States appoints Tony Stark the new director of S.H.I.E.L.D., with Maria Hill his acting deputy director. Stark seems somewhat dismissive of her, off handedly asking her to get him a cup of coffee. She does not look pleased.
[edit] Quotes
- Joe Quesada: "[Hill] is such a strong personality, she's like a force of nature and quite frankly, while perhaps not immediately loved by all involved, she's certainly as strong and imposing a figure as Nick Fury. Right now I feel that people view her as the outsider but [while] I don't think she’s any harsher than Fury has ever been, what's different is that we aren’t quite clear about her motives".[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
| Preceded by Nick Fury |
Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Secret War #5 - Civil War #7 |
Succeeded by Tony Stark |
