Emilia Clarke Opens Up About Joining Marvel Cinematic Universe

Fresh off joining the cast of Marvel’s Secret Invasion, Emilia Clarke sat down for an interview with Comic Book where she revealed what drew her to the MCU.

“I just think what they’re doing right now is so exciting and so cool, and so on the cutting edge of it. I feel like they’re like the Apple of this world,” Clarke said. “To be part of that family feels like, ‘Oh my god, I’m in the cool kid crowd. That’s so cool.’ Honestly speaking, the people that are making this are what pushed me over the line to really wanting to do it. I just think that everyone’s heart and heads are in the right place with this one.”

Clarke’s latest high-profile project, Secret Invasion, will follow a group of shape-shifting aliens who have been infiltrating Earth for years.

Backed by producer Kevin Feige, the series will feature Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury and Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull Talos, who was last seen in the Captain Marvel film. Olivia Colman and Kingsley Ben-Adir will round out the cast, with Ben-Adir playing the major villain.

For Clarke, her initiation into the comic book world has long been imminent. 

“I grew up reading fantasy fiction, so I know that’s not the same as the actual comic book itself, but that was where my imagination lived,” Clarke said. “And so, then reading about superheroes for the first time, I’m pretty sure it was Superman that was my first ever. And Spider-Man, I kind of thought he was pretty cool. Spider-Man was the first origin story that I remember as a child reading and being like, ‘Oh wow, this is more than what’s on the page. This is a bigger world,’ and then being allowed into that.”