Credit: Marvel StudiosSecret Invasion star and Marvel newcomer Emilia Clarke is letting her feelings known about superhero studios’ interconnected approach to moviemaking, claiming they can drift into “dangerous territory sometimes.”
After months of anticipation, Clarke is set to make her MCU debut in Disney+’s upcoming Secret Invasion series, where she’ll star alongside longtime Marvel alum Samuel L. Jackson, Olivia Coleman, Cobie Smulders, and others.
The actress already publicly discussed her role in the show and even expressed her excitement by saying how working on the project resulted in “star-struckness” for her—high praise for someone who starred in HBO’s Emmy-winning Game of Thrones.
Watch the official trailer for Marvel Studios’ Secret Invasion below:
So far, Clarke has only had positive things to say about her “fabulous” experience with Marvel and continues to promote the “badass show” on her personal social media accounts. In Secret Invasion, Clarke will play G’iah, the Skrull General Talos’ (Ben Mendelsohn) daughter.
But even though Clarke may be hyped for the show’s release, she recently made some remarks that, out of context, might’ve sounded like subtle shade against the MCU and its interconnected stories.
Speaking with Empire Magazine about how the upcoming series will tie into the greater MCU, Clarke warned that some interconnected franchises similar to the MCU, like Star Wars or DC, “can get into dangerous territory” and become overly complicated if every single project has tie-ins and Easter eggs to the others.
She then revealed that, thankfully, Secret Invasion doesn’t suffer from this problem, and even said her mother, who isn’t a dedicated Marvel fan, will be able to enjoy the upcoming series:
It’s definitely a show for the fans, but it’s also a show that my mum, who doesn’t watch Marvel, will watch and get, do you know what I mean? You can get into dangerous territory sometimes with this sort of genre where if you haven’t watched all 17 other films or shows, you’re not going to get it. This isn’t that at all.
Clarke has some good points when it comes to making sure the MCU and all franchises remain accessible to non-fans, especially in a cinematic landscape that’s so widely dominated by superhero movies. And based on her remarks, it seems like Secret Invasion has the potential to not only be a good Marvel project but just to be an excellent TV series in general.
Still, there’s bound to be plenty of hidden Easter eggs, and MCU nods for more loyal followers of the franchise, as is the case for most any Marvel show on Disney+. But if Clarke is correct in saying that anyone can enjoy and understand the plot and conflict of Secret Invasion, then it’s well-primed to be a crowd-pleaser for all audiences.
Secret Invasion lands on Disney+ on June 21, 2023.
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