Ever since the announcement that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be coming to the small screen in the form of S.H.I.E.L.D., questions have fired off in every direction about who would star in the upcoming ABC show.

According to an interview with IAmRogue (via Slashfilm), Cobie Smulders has had her role as Maria Hill up-in-the-air since The Avengers. Although her multi-film contract means that we will see plenty of Smulders as Hill in the coming years, the secrecy surrounding Marvel Studios has created an air of mystery around her appearances.

Films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe typically undergo construction through pre-production all the way up until they premiere, and the fact that Smulders hasn’t yet seen a complete script for Captain America: The Winter Soldier is proof of that, though we can definitely expect to see her in some capacity next April due to the fact that Captain America is set to work hand-in-hand with S.H.I.E.L.D. during The Winter Soldier.

“It’s very watermarked scripts, heavily watermarked,” said Smulders, “I’ve seen parts of it, but yeah I don’t know much. This is Marvel! They don’t let you know anything. They are very secretive and I think they are still figuring stuff out.”

Smulders’ name has been on fan casting lists for S.H.I.E.L.D. ever since it was first announced, and the revelation that MCU veteran Clark Gregg would appear as Phil Coulson only added fuel to the fire, but Smulders’ continuing commitment to How I Met Your Mother seemed to take her out of the running.

Now Smulders reveals that this may not be the case, and the she has indeed been approached about S.H.I.E.L.D..

“The commitments to [How I Met Your Mother] don’t affect it,” Smulders said. “And I can’t really say but there are definite talks about it.”

Given the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. is shooting right now (and is aiming for a release this fall), this means that Hill could make a possible post-Winter Soldier appearance in mid to late April, right before the show’s season finale, which is sure to air in May.

That is, if she’s not a regular on the show by that point.

Update: Cobie Smulders has now been recorded on tape saying basically the same thing, except she also refers to S.H.I.E.L.D. as “Clark Gregg’s show”, meaning that we can expect plenty from the Son of Coul in S.H.I.E.L.D.