Emilia Clarke Gets Candid About How Long She Wants To Stay In The MCU

A good franchise is hard to come by, and nobody knows it better than Emilia Clarke. Yes, she's enjoyed the sort of career that would make most drama school applicants mess their dance belts, starring in a hit HBO series and becoming an international celebrity. But there have been bad times, too — the "Terminator Genisys" times, for one. Not to mention the "Solo: A Star Wars Story" times. Points in pop culture history that should have led to a decade's worth of sequels, only to fizzle out.

But now, Clarke is set to join the one diagnosably un-killable franchise in the history of Hollywood — the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actress is officially part of the forthcoming Disney+ series "Secret Invasion," a six-part show chronicling the arrival of a group of shape-changing Skrulls on Earth, based on the comic event of the same name by Brian Michael Bendis. 

And while Clarke's role on the series is being kept under wraps, she certainly seems to be happy with whatever it is. At least, that's what she told The Hollywood Reporter in a recent interview. Clarke was asked how she felt about the prospect of joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the long haul, and she seemed positively stoked at the prospect.

"I mean, I should be so lucky is what I'll say to that," Emilia Clarke told THR when asked how she felt about taking on a new, potentially decade-long role after "Game of Thrones." She added, "Everyone I know and everyone I've spoken to who is a part of the Marvel universe — and actors talk! Everyone has only the highest praise to offer. There's a reason why actors stay in it. They're so loved because they're having loads of fun. So I'm down for that."

Is it premature to hope that Clarke will wind up a permanent fixture in the MCU? Absolutely, given that it's entirely possible that she might just be playing Skrull #8, holding a space spear in the background and looking menacing. Still, it's nice to know that she's on board with whatever's going on.

And for the record, Clarke's shadowy MCU character isn't the only one that she's interested in keeping alive in the years to come. During the same interview, she expressed a great deal of interest in bringing back her character Qi'ra from 2018's "Solo," claiming to have written pages of backstory for the Corellian gangster and stating that of all the people she's played, Qi'ra is "the one that has the most unfinished business." If Kathleen Kennedy hasn't given that project the green light by the time you're done reading this sentence, someone should go and check on her.