When Samuel L. Jackson was spilling his guts about The Avengers to Jimmy Fallon the other day, the most interesting thing he mentioned was that he was screen testing some ladies to play his assistant in the film. My immediate reaction was that this character could be Sharon Carter, formerly Agent 13 in SHIELD and future love interest of Captain America. The real question though, was who would take on the role?
Then we heard exactly who was reading for the part, and some interesting names popped up like Mary Elizabeth Winstead(Death Proof), Morena Baccarin(V), and Cobie Smulders(How I Met Your Mother). Winstead was soon ruled out, and Baccarin was assumed the frontrunner due to her close association with Joss Whedon. The two worked together on the short-lived TV show, Firefly, and then again on the spin off movie, Serenity. Turns out those past ties didn't amount to much, because now Deadline is reporting that Smulders looks to be the pick, and she won't be playing Sharon Carter. Instead she'll be Maria Hill, Nick Fury confidant and one-time leader of SHIELD.
Hill is actually a fairly recent character in the Marvel Universe, having only debuted back in 2005 during the Secret War storyline which saw Nick Fury go into hiding. She took over as head of SHIELD during that time, leading them through the superhero Civil War and a massive Skrull invasion before losing her job to Norman Osborne. Yes, THAT Norman Osborne. She is currently the leader of one team of Avengers.
Smulders is an actress I've dug for a long time, and I think she's more than capable of making a good Maria Hill. When Joss Whedon was trying to string together a Wonder Woman flick, Smulders was on his list and she would've been great for that, too. She's got some pretty hot Maxim spreads, also. Just sayin'.
It remains to be seen what kind of role Maria Hill really takes on, because it's not likely she'll be leading SHIELD, but more likely she'll be a recognizable, semi-important face who might get a couple of moments to shine. Since SHIELD is involved in nearly every Marvel movie, if her character gets a good reaction it's possible her role could expand.
