The awareness of Nova and the Nova Corps in the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes back a decade to the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. Still, efforts to get the character to the screen, be it big or small, in live action were Herculean, with sadly nothing to show for them. Now, there may be a ray of hope: Marvel Studios, far from giving up on it, is developing the concept as a feature film.
There is no director or release date yet – nor is there any shortlist of names being scouted to star. But a new writer has been given the assignment: Loki series creator and head writer Michael Waldron. Beyond the series starring Tom Hiddleston as the time-hopping Trickster of Asgard, and brother to a certain god of thunder, Waldron proved to be a reliable scribe in Marvel Entertainment’s bullpen.
No matter how last-minute or mercurial the job was, he would get it, even if it went back into turnaround. Waldron received the plum gig of penning Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – a major tentpole sequel starring Benedict Cumberbatch as one of the brand’s most elite characters, and directed by horror legend/Spider-Man trilogy filmmaker Sam Raimi.
Waldron would shortly thereafter parlay that job into being put in charge of the scripts for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Neither panned out after the Russo brothers returned with their frequent collaborator Stephen McFeely and took the reins, but it wasn’t like Waldron was going anywhere (note: he is still credited as a writer on Doomsday). Like Nova, he floated around the Disney Plus pipeline for years, and clearly did his job well.Â
Nova was once slated for a streaming series for the Disney Plus streaming service (without Waldron’s involvement) developed by Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada with Ed Bernero (Criminal Minds) playing showrunner. Those plans, as so many have, fell apart when Marvel decided to scale back content on the streaming service last year. While the project is officially being retooled with a new pitch for Waldron to tailor to his desire, it’s nonetheless believed internally that the story will stay centered around Richard Rider – the one wearing the yellow helmet since the beginning.
The studio's new approach to television meant that any planned miniseries (especially the expensive ones) were scrapped. The success of Agatha All Along (which is Marvel's least expensive series ever) changed the game, with the studio seeking long-term multi-season TV shows instead of cinematic one-and-dones. And, with that, Nova, Strange Academy, and Terror Inc. were dropped entirely. Somewhere along the line, however, the MCU has seemingly decided to revisit the former - albeit as a movie this time around.
Created by Marv Wolfman and John Romita, Nova led his first ongoing series in the mid-1970s, and it wouldn’t be his last. He would take flight twice again in the 1990s in very brief relaunches; one lasting from January 1994 to June 1995 (Nova, vol. 2) is highly regarded to this day and would not have been possible without his adventures as a member of The New Warriors that sold huge at the time.
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