Home TV News Emilia Clarke Praises Marvel’s “Chill” While Making ‘Secret Invasion’

“It’s like they have some secret thing and it just works.”

After making her way through Westeros and becoming a fan-favorite playing Daenerys Targaryen in the hit series Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke is taking another big next step to becoming a household name in the geek world. Back in 2021, it was announced that Clarke would join Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn on Marvel’s upcoming series, Secret Invasion. Now, with the premiere of the highly anticipated TV show closer than ever, Collider sat down with Clarke herself to talk about her experience in the MCU.

At the Sundance Film Festival, Clarke spoke to our own Perri Nemiroff and opened up a little about the reality of working with the Marvel machine. As everyone knows (or at least assumes), Marvel Studios is a globe-throttling production company that puts together some of the biggest and most expensive crews in order to keep taking its cinematic universe to the next level. Clarke revealed that, as intimidating as that may sound, she felt astonished at how chill everyone seemed to be on set:

“It’s mind-boggling. I’ve got to tell you, the way that those shows and films are created is mind boggling. It’s like everyone at Marvel knows how to unlock the Rubik’s cube, and you couldn’t even possibly — I can’t do a Rubik’s Cube to save my damn life. I hope a lot of people can’t also. It’s like they have some secret thing, and it just works. It just works! I’ve tried to understand it, and I’ve tried to be like, ‘Okay, logically how is this, how do you guys, what’s the…?’ They’re drinking some water over there. I don’t know what it is. It’s fabulous. […] They nail it. They just absolutely nail it. I’m not the only actor to say that working with them is just kind of brilliant. It really is. We had a lot of laughs. They’re just so chill, and I think I’m not that chill, and I think if I were them, I would be so unchill all the time.”

Image via Marvel

RELATED: Martin Freeman Calls ‘Secret Invasion’ a “Departure” From the Rest of the MCU

Secret Invasion Is a Secret—But We’re Speculating Anyway
Secret Invasion is gearing up to be one of Marvel’s best series—and it’s certainly one of the most anticipated—with the trailer suggesting a paranoia-filled environment that might be recurrent in Phase Five. The series will also feature a batch of familiar faces, including Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine and Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross. Other cast members include Olivia Colman, Christopher McDonald, Carmen Ejogo, Kingsley Ben-Adir, and Killian Scott.

In true Marvel fashion, the story of Secret Invasion is being kept under wraps, but based on the comic book series of the same name and what we’ve been presented in the MCU so far, it’s not a wild guess to assume that the series will kick off the invasion of Earth by the shape-shifting Skrulls, an alien race that can disguise themselves as anyone.

Marvel and Disney+ are yet to announce a release date for Season 1 of Secret Invasion. It is expected to premiere in early 2023.

Special thanks to our 2023 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Saratoga Spring Water and supporting partners Marbl Toronto, EMFACE, Sommsation, Hendrick’s Gin, Stella Artois, mou, and the all-electric vehicle, Fisker Ocean.