Since its announcement in 2020, Marvel’s Secret Invasion has been shrouded in secrecy (as is usually the case with Marvel projects). Given the show’s espionage tone, such secrecy has felt acceptable, if not warranted. Marvel fans have used this extended period of time to ponder the show’s possibilities, deciding who’s who and what’s what, but as it turns out, that might have been to no avail.
Shortly after Marvel released the first trailer for the six-episode show last September, speculations quickly arose surrounding Game of Thrones actress Emilia Clarke and who she might play. An official Marvel account reportedly let slip the name Abigail Brand alongside a gif of Clarke from the trailer, leading the masses to assume that Clarke would indeed play the famous commander officer of S.W.O.R.D. (an offshoot of S.H.I.E.L.D.).
However, thanks to a preview from Vanity Fair, it turns out that is not the case. At all.
No, Emilia Clarke is not playing Abigail Brand — so who is she playing?
In the Marvel comics, Abigail Brand is a half-mutant, half-alien who is tasked with overseeing S.W.O.R.D., a covert American intelligence agency that focuses on extraterrestrial threats. Because Secret Invasion revolves around a group of displaced Skrull extremists frustrated with Nick Fury and Talos’ empty promise to find them a home planet, and who then attempt to overthrow the U.S. government as a result, it only made sense that someone like Abigail Brand would be a part of the story.
Clarke appeared to fit the bill, too, seen holding a gun and looking very much like an agent of some kind in the show’s first trailer. However, thanks to the Vanity Fair premiere, it’s been announced that Clarke is not playing Brand at all. She’s playing a Skrull woman named G’iah (pronounced “Guy-ah”). What’s more, her character G’iah is actually the daughter of Talos, the good-natured Skrull leader we met in Captain Marvel.
Who is G’iah and what is her backstory?
G’iah might not be as familiar a name in the Marvel universe as, say, Abigail Brand, but her story is equally as fascinating. For starters, Marvel fans have already seen her before; she made her MCU debut in Captain Marvel.
“Remember when Ben (Talos) was there with his wife and daughter?” Samuel L. Jackson said in his Vanity Fair interview, referring to the scene near the end of Captain Marvel when Talos is reunited with his Skrull family. “She’s the little Skrull girl grown up. She’s his daughter.”
Due to years of growing up amidst war and being forced to live in her father’s shadow, G’iah has grown angry. Hardened. Like her fellow extremists, she’s fed up with the empty promises, and she doesn’t necessarily have a strong loving bond with her father to fall back on for support.
“It’s hardened her, for sure,” said Clarke. “There’s a kind of punk feeling that you get from this girl. She’s a refugee kid who’s had Talos for a dad, you know what I mean? Maybe the fact that we didn’t know he had a kid up until this point tells you everything you need to know about their relationship.”
“These people promised a lot of stuff a long time ago, and not a lot has happened. So understandably, a certain amount of resentment has been built,” said Clarke, invoking what feels like a foreshadowed showdown between her and her father that could possibly end in her turning into an anti-hero or just a flat-out villain.
“There’s a lot of emotions that live within her,” continued Clarke. “And there’s a lot of confrontational aspects to her character that have come from circumstance. You understand why she has the feelings that she does.”
Secret Invasion may only be six episodes long, but its premise, tone, and stacked cast have left many hoping it’ll be the kick in the butt the MCU needs. After all, both Emilia Clarke and Olivia Colman are now a part of the franchise. Come on, Marvel. Don’t miss this up.
Secret Invasion is scheduled to premiere on Disney Plus sometime this summer. An accidental leak on Marvel’s behalf points to a potential June release date.