Regardless of how you felt about the finale, there’s no denying that Game of Thrones is probably the biggest TV show we’ll see in our lifetime and the only two things that can possibly hold a candle to it in terms of pop-culture relevance and fandom size is the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Star Wars franchise.
As it so happens, one lucky soul very nearly held important roles in all three universes in something that would’ve been akin to the geek equivalent of matter colliding with antimatter.
Writer Drew Pearce shared a throwback photo on Instagram of the time when he was at an early table read of Iron Man 3 (which he co-wrote) back in 2012 and revealed that Emilia Clarke was originally involved with the movie.
Yup, Daenerys Targaryen and Qi’ra was very nearly part of the MCU.
Sadly Emilia’s involvement in Iron Man 3 didn’t ultimately pan out due to “script changes”, which is definitely code for “some s**t went down behind-the-scenes that I can’t talk about.” But look, this intriguing little nugget about Iron Man 3 has brought up a few very interesting questions.
Firstly, who was Emilia meant to play? Pearce didn’t reveal this in his Instagram caption but we can probably assume it was a cut character given his “long story, the script changed” explanation and how all the other major female characters in Iron Man 3 were played by other actresses. As for how big of a role it was, well we think it was likely a pretty substantial one given how she was already riding high on the Thrones wave back in 2012.
And secondly, what exactly went on in Pearce’s “long story” that resulted in Iron Man 3 being rewritten and Emilia’s role getting cut? With all the big name stars Marvel have signed on in recent years, you’d think that they would move continents to have someone from GoT onboard.
This will be one of the many big pop-culture “what ifs” in recent memory as having Emilia in Iron Man 3 as originally intended could’ve changed the trajectory of the MCU as we know it.
But hey, Emilia probably has some extra time on her hands now as how Game of Thrones is officially over so Marvel should probably give her a call and see if she’s down for something in one of the MCU’s post-Endgame movies.