Being part of a comic franchise isn't for everyone. While some might be comfortable with a contract that spans several pictures, as well as crosses media boundaries into other tie-ins, others aren't so thrilled about being part of the comic world. For every Hugo Weaving, there's a Samuel L. Jackson, and Cobie Smulders definitely falls into the Jackson camp, as she's a fan of being a part of the Marvel Universe.
While promoting her new film, Unexpected, Smulders sat down with The Daily Beast to discuss everything from how her recent pregnancy helped with her role as a pregnant teacher to her life after the end of the smash hit show How I Met Your Mother. But, as always, if you're in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you're going to be asked about what life is like inside of the frames inspired by the page.
More specifically, the question of job security via her recurring gig as Maria Hill had come up, and Smulders exhibited her enthusiasm as follows:
It’s very cool to be a part of the world, and a part of this ongoing story that’s happening. Normally, you walk into a movie, have a script, and then you’re done with it, or at the most you’ll do a sequel—maybe. But with the Marvel world, they’re doing television, they have merchandise like crazy, and Lego video games. It’s cool to be a part of all of it.
To date, Cobie Smulders has been in three Marvel films, as well as three episodes of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., and there's plenty of room for her to continue popping up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Naturally, the most expected time for her to re-surface is during next year's Captain America: Civil War, as S.H.I.E.L.D's remnants will more than likely take part in the conflict between pro and anti registration forces. Of course, in true MCU fashion, Smulders was sworn to secrecy and could not provide any details about her possible involvement.
The fact that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the first comic book universe to try and maintain continuity of performance as much as it can between films and tie in products is a sight to behold. Like Smulders pointed out, once you sign that contract you could find yourself voicing a Lego character, showing up on TV a couple weeks in a guest spot, and then opening a motion picture... all in the same week. Of course, this isn't the same across the board with other properties – DC Comics in particular. While they'll use the same characters across numerous platforms, who ends up playing them and whether they can be used in one medium or not is up for debate.
Here's hoping that the MCU gives us some more Maria Hill action in the near future, but in the meantime you can see Cobie Smulders in Unexpected, which is currently in limited release, while Captain America: Civil War fights the good fight on May 6, 2016.
