Last week we reported that Morena Baccarin (V, Firefly), Jessica Lucas (Melrose Place), Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim) were all in the running to play Nick Fury’s sidekick in Joss Whedon’s bid budget superhero mash-up, The Avengers.
Over the weekend it appeared Smulders was nearing a deal, and that’s now been confirmed, with THR reporting that she will indeed play an agent of SHIELD in the movie. While THR doesn’t say the name of the character, over the weekend Deadline reported that it was Maria Hill. In The Avengers she’ll be the sidekick of SHIELD. leader Nick Fury, a woman known for her aggressive tactics including the blackmail of certain super heroes to get them to cooperate.
Don’t expect it to be a huge role, as with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow and all the rest to fit in, nobody is getting a massive part, but Smulders deal includes options for later movies, presumably including the rumoured Nick Fury flick.
The Avengers hits cinema May 4th, 2012.