Marvel Studios has a lot of characters, teams, and stories to turn into interesting Disney Plus TV shows and big-budget movies. We’ve seen creators take characters like the members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and turn them into household names. It’s one of the reasons why projects such as Nova, Strange Academy, and Terror Inc. were reportedly planned to be future Marvel Cinematic Universe projects.
Unfortunately, it sounds like all three of those projects have been placed on hold. Deadline reports that "these projects were never officially greenlit, and may still come to fruition at some point" but that Marvel "has simply shifted its priorities at the moment.”
The post also added that the decision is reflective of the studio's more recent approach of not greenlighting any projects until a pilot is produced (the studio originally announced a Disney Plus project just as it would with a movie and then subsequently made it happen).
This comes after reports that the studio quietly cancelled planned sequels to The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals, as well as a potential second season of Disney Plus series She-Hulk: Attorney At Law.
Nova (Richard Rider) has been around in the comics since 1976, debuting in his own series The Man Called Nova. Terror Inc. debuted in an alternate reality but later appeared in various comics on Earth-616. As for Strange Academy, their first issue wasn’t until 2020. It’s somewhat ironic that these three titles are bunched into the recent planned Marvel Studios projects because they have nothing in common.
Terror Inc. offered the chance to do something quite different. It could have been a horror show that would have helped Marvel become known for more than PG-13 content (something it has just started experimenting with due to TV-MA shows like Echo and Daredevil: Born Again). Strange Academy could have appealed to any audience, from young adults and older. In the source material, it has a lot of newer teenage characters mixed in with classic ones like Doctor Voodoo, Wanda Maximoff, and Doctor Strange. A series of that, reportedly led by Benedict Wong's Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, could have been Marvel’s version of a CW show.
As for Nova, it’s shocking that he didn’t appear in any of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, especially as Richard Rider’s personality fits in perfectly with them (he has a history with Peter Quill).
MCU fans were hoping that it would happen at some point, but if it didn't, they had the long-rumored show to look forward to.
If you’re a fan of any of the characters or teams, this is disappointing news. However, let's look on the bright side. For now, these projects haven’t been cancelled. They're just on hold. The last thing anyone wants is something that’s rushed because the content is needed. That’s how you end up with poorly produced shows or movies without heart. Sony’s Spider-Man universe could be an example of this. Even when their movies are fun, there always seems to be something missing.
Nova, Terror Inc., and Strange Academy aren’t well-known properties. Nova is the most popular of the three and he’s not close to being on the level of Thor or Captain America. That's why patience is a good thing here, as it could very well result in all of them Marvel’s next big thing. Don’t forget, Tony Stark wasn’t always someone people knew much about until Robert Downey Jr. turned him into a megastar. The same could be said for Blade; Wesley Snipes put the Daywalker on the map and he remains someone people look forward to seeing.
Years from now, these projects could be produced with a creative team and cast that will blow our minds. In the meantime, let’s hope they don’t get cancelled. Stay tuned to Bam Smack Pow to see what's next for Nova, Terror Inc., and Strange Academy.
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