Actress Emilia Clarke has been having a cold streak in the television space. Despite playing the ‘Mother of Dragons’ in the acclaimed Game of Thrones, the actress received much criticism for how the character progressed by the end of the series. Now, the actress’ MCU debut has also been received poorly.
Clarke stars in the Disney+ miniseries Secret Invasion as G’iah along with Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. The show was heavily criticized upon release and has broken one of the franchise’s coveted records, but not in the way the studio expected.
The MCU’s Post-Endgame Woes
Emilia Clarke
Before Emilia Clarke’s Secret Invasion delivered one of the worst-reviewed shows in the MCU, the franchise has already been on a downward spiral. The show is part of the MCU’s phase five series of content, which started with the negatively reviewed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. However, many critics point out that the show has been dwindling since its epic climactic event film Avengers: Endgame.
The Russo Brothers hit it out of the park with the two-part conclusion to the MCU’s ‘Infinity Saga’. Pitting the Avengers against Thanos, the franchise had its unique turning point with the ‘Snap’ at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. The saga drew to its epic conclusion in Avengers: Endgame, bringing all the characters in the MCU up until that point into the climactic battle against Thanos’ forces. The film was a cinematic event, ten years in the making, and became the second highest-grossing film of all time.
Emilia Clarke in Secret Invasion
However, the franchise has been struggling to keep up the same quality and storytelling after Endgame. While there have been some exceptions such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, the franchise has been constantly receiving criticism. One of the best parts of the ‘Inifnity Saga’ was its carefully laid leads to the last two films, with Thanos being teased since 2012’s The Avengers.
The franchise is now in its fifth phase and is exploring the ‘Multiverse Saga’. While the phase six films Avengers: Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars are set to be the epic conclusion to this saga, the films and shows released till now have been less than spectacular. Adding to this is the most recent show, Secret Invasion starring Emilia Clarke and Samuel L Jackson, which received a rotten certification from both critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The MCU has never received a double rotten certification since the beginning of the franchise.
Why Is Emilia Clarke’s Secret Invasion The Worst Of The MCU?
A Still from Secret Invasion
While the Emilia Clarke-starrer is not the lowest-rated MCU offering, with that position held by this year’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania at 45%, it is still the only MCU material that has received a rotten score from both critics and audiences. Secret Invasion has a critics score of 54% and an audience score of 50%. A film or show is certified rotten when it gets a score below 60%. Quantumania fared better on the audience front with a score of 82%.
The main criticism the series has faced is its deviation from the ‘Secret Invasion’ storyline in the comics, which was an espionage-style mystery thriller. The series is criticized for focusing more on Nick Fury’s romantic storyline with Priscilla Varra. The show also received a lot of flack for establishing that James Rhodes, the War Machine, has been a Skrull.
Emilia Clarke’s G’iah also received heavy criticism for being overpowered. The character assumes the power of every MCU character and becomes a formidable force against whoever she faces, giving her character little to no vulnerability. Critics have had the same problem with DC’s Superman and MCU’s own Captain Marvel.
The fans have been waiting for a sold return to form for the franchise. While hopes were up with James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, Secret Invasion seems to have snatched that hope again. All the pressure will be on season 2 of Loki, which will be premiering on October 6.
Secret Invasion is streaming on Disney+.
