It's pretty safe to say that Marvel Studios has a lot going on right now. This year alone, they will be releasing three cinematic installments in theaters and three live-action shows on Disney Plus - and that's not even taking into account the three animated projects that are also on the 2025 slate. Yes, it's a big year for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it's needed after the franchise has had a number of lackluster titles in recent years.
On the Disney Plus front, the studio has found success with a new approach that has seen it adapt characters for television in a way that doesn't result in the streaming shows feeling like multi-part movies. Outings like Agatha All Along and the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again are designed to function as TV shows; not a stop-gap between movies like some of the previous installments.
However, this success has led to a recent pivot away from some in-development projects - including one of the long-standing rumored TV shows that unfortunately had its development paused in recent weeks. Even more unfortunately, it reportedly could have featured a major DC star.
Henry Cavill's rumored MCU role was reportedly in the shelved Nova project
We may have already seen Henry Cavill make a cameo appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that was not expected to be his long-term role in the franchise. According to well-established Marvel scooper MyTimeToShineHello, the star was in consideration play a key role in the franchise's Nova series on Disney Plus. The insider subsequently revealed that he could have ended up playing the role of Annihilus.
This does potentially line up with what fellow insider Daniel Richtman revealed about the series, adding that it would have focused on the arrival of Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave just as Richard Rider (a.k.a. Nova himself) would have been attempting to rebuild the Nova Corps on Xandar. It would have likely dove into what Thanos did to the planet after obtaining the Power Stone - something that Avengers: Infinity War did not show.
Annihilus is a Fantastic Four villain so it would have been interesting to see how he would have factored into the Nova series. We're speaking in the past tense because the show has, for now, been paused by Marvel Television in a somewhat unforeseen reveal. And it isn't the only one either, as the studio reportedly pressed pause on both Strange Academy and Terror Inc. - two more shows that had been rumored to be in development for some time.
Marvel's Head of Television Brad Winderbaum recently confirmed the Nova pause in an interview with Phase Hero's Brandon Davis, reflecting on the studio's new desire to make their next wave of series ongoing TV shows with multiple seasons - and not just standalone miniseries that service the MCU franchise as a whole.
Back to Cavill, he has been rumored to star in an MCU project for some time now. Although he did cameo as an alternate version of Wolverine, a.k.a. The Cavillrine, in Deadpool and Wolverine to bring a long-standing fan-casting to life, there is still somewhat of an expectation among fans that he will play a more definitive role in the years ahead, with rumors of Captain Britain or Mister Sinister. The idea of him appearing as Annihilus is unexpected, to say the least, but there is no doubt that Cavill would be capable of pulling it off.
It would also mark something of a change for the actor, who is best known for playing franchise heroes. His most famous role is, of course, as Superman in the DC Extended Universe - which he played from 2013's Man of Steel all the way through to 2022's Black Adam. He also played the heroic Geralt of Rivia in Netflix's The Witcher for its first three seasons. Seeing him as a villain in the MCU would make for quite the change indeed.
All rumors should be taken with a pinch of salt, but this is a pretty unique case now that the project has been shelved. Given that Marvel Television's priorities have shifted so significantly, a series like Nova is likely far too expensive when they are focused on making cheaper and / or grounded shows like Daredevil: Born Again and Agatha All Along.
Whether or not it ever does come to fruition remains to be seen, but perhaps the bigger question is: Will we ever see Henry Cavill get that long-term MCU role? Here's hoping the answer to both of those questions is: Yes.