20 Biggest Wasted Opportunities In The MCU

8. Maria Hill

The sheer volume of should-be great characters the MCU has neglected over the years is almost impressive, and the forever dependable Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) is one of its greatest wastes. 

Introduced in The Avengers as a senior SHIELD agent and the loyal right-hand of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), Hill was portrayed valiantly as a fearsome leader, fighter, and friend, one of remarkably few people Fury trusted and fewer still who stayed by the Avengers' side after SHIELD fell. 

In her brief appearances throughout the franchise, she showed great promise and depth of character, a conflicted soul who stood for integrity and peace and always did the right thing. Thanks to Smulders, she was also casually charming, clearly more than met the eye. 

But as the franchise went on, Hill was never given much to do, and though Marvel set her up to have a major role in the TV miniseries Secret Invasion (more on that later), she was ultimately killed early on as a means of advancing Fury's storyline. Meh.