British actress Emilia Clarke (“Ponies”) has been wading in the waters of genre projects, going back to HBO’s mega-hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones,” and sadly, other high-profile projects have seen a familiar pattern of mixed to poor reception (the final season of “Thrones” wasn’t well received either, mind you). Now, the actress is apologizing for her other films and the Marvel series “Secret Invasion,” which she seemingly believes were all mostly a wash.
Those other projects include “Terminator Genisys,” where Clarke to inhabit the role of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton originating the part then returning for “Terminator: Dark Fate and “GOT” co-star Lena Headey played her in a TV series) and reunited with “Game of Thrones” director Alan Taylor, who had also dabbled in the MCU world with “Thor: The Dark World.” And the prequel film helmed by Ron Howard with “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” where she plays a former flame of Han Solo who has jumped feet first into the criminal underworld and is revealed as a cohort of Darth Maul at the end.
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“I don’t think no one liked that show, guys. I’m sorry!” Clarke told Variety recently, referring to “Secret Invasion.” “‘Star Wars’? They didn’t like it. ‘Terminator’? That should never have happened. But these were jobs I said yes to, you know what I mean?… I entered into already existing franchises, so when they don’t work out, it’s not personal.”
“Secret Invasion” feels like the least remembered of the Disney+ Marvel projects, but it had all the ambition you’d expect as it tried to operate as not only a Nick Fury (played by Samuel L. Jackson) solo adventure but also expanding upon the Skrull lore introduced in “Captain Marvel,” as Clarke played the daughter of the Skrull leader Talos (played Ben Mendelsohn) and was seemingly being setup as a friendly iteration of the Super-Skrull at the end of the show, only to be never seen again.
Interestingly enough, “Solo” might have struggled at the box office when it was released, in comparison to other theatrical outings from Lucasfilm at the time, but it had been mostly embraced like “Rogue One.” But, sadly, those sequel plans for the “Star Wars” film never panned out, and we’re still waiting to see if Donald Glover‘s Lando Calrissian ever gets his spinoff film (had pivoted from series to feature, last we heard), which could have allowed Clarke to reprise her “Solo” role.
Thankfully, her latest return to television with the Cold War era spy comedy show “Ponies” seems to have struck a chord with both audiences and critics alike, and Clarke seems hopeful that a Season 2 greenlight is possibly in the cards for her (it helps that she also produces and co-stars with Haley Lu Richardson). Even though her return to those aforementioned IP franchises like Marvel and “Star Wars” doesn’t really seem to be on the table.
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