Every new Marvel Cinematic Universe movie or show is an event at this point. That also means every new actor entering the MCU (and there are a lot of them) is coming in either under a lot of expectations or a lot of secrecy. Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has the weight of both on her, as she was the central actor on one of the most significant television shows of the modern age and no one has any idea who or what she is going to be portraying in the MCU. We do know that she has some unknown role in the upcoming Disney+ Secret Invasion series, and according to our trusted and proven sources, Emilia Clarke will also be appearing in The Marvels.
Currently, the release date for The Marvels is set for July 28, 2023. The release date for the six-episode Secret Invasion series has not yet been announced, so we do not know for sure which project Emilia Clarke’s character will be appearing in first. However, this does very strongly indicate that her character is going to have some connection to the Marvel alien race known as the Skrulls.
The Marvels is the sequel to both 2019’s Captain Marvel (which introduced Brie Larson as the title character) and the upcoming Disney+ series Ms. Marvel (which will introduce Iman Vellani as the superpowered Captain Marvel fangirl). The former heavily featured the MCU’s version of Skrulls as well as a younger version of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. It stands to reason that if Captain Marvel involved Skrulls and Captain Marvel and Secret Invasion will involve Skrulls and Nick Fury that Ms. Marvel may involve Skrulls and Nick Fury.
We are going to heavily speculate and guess that Emilia Clarke may be playing Veranke, the Queen of the Skrull Empire in both Secret Invasion and The Marvels. The character was introduced in the original Marvel Comics Secret Invasion event as orchestrating the mass impersonation of superheroes on Earth, which would make her a pivotal character in the MCU. Given the spacefaring nature of Captain Marvel (as well as presumably other Marvel-adjacent heroes), it would make sense that she could be brought in as a character there.
Of course, if Emilia Clarke IS playing a Skrull (whether Veranke or some other member of the alien species), she could appear to be just about anyone. The major defining characteristics of Skrulls in both Marvel Comics continuity and the MCU is their ability to shapeshift and flawlessly impersonate others. So basically, anyone in the MCU could be Emilia Clarke.
It will also have to be seen what direction Marvel Studios takes Secret Invasion in. While the traditional portrayal of Skrulls has been as a ruthless, deceptive empire in generational conflict with the Kree (the alien species traditionally connected to Captain Marvel), the MCU has retconned them as a refugee species barely clinging to survival. If Emilia Clarke will possibly be playing their Queen in The Marvels and Secret Invasion, it could also mean a pretty big tonal change for their story so far.
