Emilia Clarke has officially been cast in the upcoming Marvel Disney + series Secret Invasion. The Game of Thrones actress joins fellow cast members Samuel L Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn who will be reprising their MCU roles as Nick Fury and the alien shape-shifter Talos. Olivia Coleman is also reportedly in talks to join the cast. This is Clarke's second time working with Disney, she was previously cast as Han Solo's love interest Qira in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Clarke is best known for playing Daenerys Targaryen on the popular HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones. Clarke appeared in all eight seasons of the show for which she earned four Emmy nominations. Her character was a member of the esteemed House Targaryen, a noble family which once ruled the seven kingdoms. She spends the majority of the series trying to return to her homeland of Westeros to reclaim the throne. House Targaryen is one of several noble families from George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels, and they are primarily known for their association with dragons.
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A Game of Thrones spin-off prequel series about the Targaryen family called House of the Dragon is currently in the works at HBO. Daenerys was one of the most popular characters in Game of Thrones. At first, she was portrayed as a liberator and fierce leader who many fans were rooting for. That is until she finally conquered King's Landing and burned innocent civilians alive with one of her dragons. She was struck down in the series finale by her lover/nephew (yes, it's weird) Jon Snow after he realized that she might not be such a good Queen after all.
Secret Invasion is an adaptation of the 2008 Marvel comics storyline where it was revealed that a shape-shift alien species known as the Skrulls had been discreetly invading earth and in some cases taking on the identity of Marvel Superheros. The Skrulls were first introduced to the MCU in Captain Marvel, where they were portrayed as refugees who had been forced to leave their homes by the Kree Empire. The Skulls showed up again at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home when it was revealed that Samuel L Jackon's Nick Fury had secretly been a Skull named Talos the entire film.
Fury seems to have a good relationship with the alien Shape-shifters, after all, he did help them fight off the Kree in Captain Marvel. More recently a Skrull showed up at the end of WandaVsion, approaching a newly superpowered Monica Rambeau, claiming to have been sent by an old friend of the mothers. Since her mother, Maria Rambeau, played a big role in Captain Marvel this implies that the Skrull was probably talking about either Nick Fury or Captain Marvel herself.
Considering that Captain Marvel takes place in the mid-90's it's possible that the Skrulls have been secretly around in the MCU for decades, stepping in for Nick Fury when he wants to take the day off. While the Skrulls were often portrayed as villains in the comics, Captain Marvel showed them in a sympathetic light. The title "Secret Invasion" has very aggressive implications, so it will be interesting to see how Marvel approaches this for the series. Will the Skrulls be invaders? Or will they still be refugees seeking a home, trying to prove to humanity that they come in peace? The people of earth in the MCU have witnessed several brutal alien invasions in previous films, so they might not be so welcoming. The show could serve as a very relevant commentary on immigration and refugees in the real world.
We'll just have to wait and see when Secret Invasion comes out at a yet-to-be-determined date in 2022.
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Source: The Hollywood Reporter