Marvel's 'Secret Invasion' Adds 'Game Of Thrones' Veteran Emilia Clarke
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has just welcomed a Khaleesi into its ranks.
Emilia Clarke, who portrayed the dragon queen Daenerys Targaryen in all eight seasons of HBO's mega-hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, is heading back to television in a big way. A new report says she has joined the increasingly stacked cast of Secret Invasion, a show that counts MCU veterans Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn among its actors and has also added newcomers Kingsley Ben-Adir (One Night in Miami) and Olivia Colman (The Favourite).Variety reports that Emilia Clarke is the latest high-profile actor to join Marvel's Secret Invasion cast. Considering the extreme levels of secrecy Marvel goes to in order to protect its secrets, it should not come as a surprise that there are currently no details available about her character. But the show will be a "showcase" for Jackson's Nick Fury and Mendelsohn's Skrull character, Talos, who first appeared in the MCU in Captain Marvel.
In the pages of Marvel Comics, Secret Invasion was a massive crossover event that tracked the slow invasion of the shapeshifting Skrulls onto Earth, with many of them posing as Avengers for years and planting the seeds for epic betrayals and shocking reveals. This show will be executed on a significantly smaller scale than that comic, which included top-tier characters like the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Deadpool, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and more. "It very much is a showcase for Sam Jackson and Ben Mendelson and tapping into the paranoia elements of the Secret Invasion comic series that was great with the twists and turns that that took," producer Kevin Feige said of the show earlier this year. "So, that's certainly our focus more than, 'Can we cram in more characters than Endgame?'"
As for Clarke, this will be her first time working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but not her first time making a project under the Disney umbrella. She previously joined the Star Wars universe as Qi'ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and Disney loves to work with the same actors over and over again once they've joined the Disney family, so to speak. Clarke's other major credits include playing Sarah Connor in Terminator Genisys opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney, and charming her way through the Emma Thompson-penned holiday rom-com Last Christmas opposite the equally charming Henry Golding.