Marvel Studios Set To Finally Bring Nova Into The MCU

What Could His Role Be?

By Culture SlatePublished 2 years ago • 4 min read

After many years of rumors and fan-predictions, Marvel is finally getting set to introduce Nova to the MCU. Deadline broke the news on Thursday that Kevin Feige had tapped Moon Knight writer, Sabir Pirzada, to develop a script for a Nova project. It is not yet known whether the Nova project would be a Disney streaming series or a theatrical release, just that a project is in development.

Pirzada has been a part of the Moon Knight writer’s room and will have credits on the 3rd, 4th and final episodes of the series, which is set to premiere next week on Wednesday the 30th. In addition to his work on Moon Knight, Pirizada has credits on The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico, ABC’s The Crossing and CBS’s Person of Interest. Pirzada also earned a degree in Psychology from University of California at Berkeley in 2010.

In the comics, Nova is the superhero identity of Richard Rider and has several connections to already existing characters and groups within the MCU, most importantly the Nova Corps from Guardians of the Galaxy. Nova’s origin story is similar to DC’s Green Lantern. After the destruction of Xandar, a dying Nova Corps Centurion selects Richard Rider, a high school student, to replace him and give him the ability to tap into the Nova Force. The Nova Force gives Nova the abilities of flight, super strength, speed, and durability, as well as control of energy blasts and beams. In this original iteration, the dying Centurion is Rhomann Dey, the character played by John C. Reilly in Guardians of the Galaxy.

So far, the Nova Force has yet to be established in the MCU, creating a massive difference in the on-screen Nova Corps compared to the one in the comics. This could be addressed in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as follow up on the off-screen destruction of Xander prior to Avengers: Infinity War to help set up the Nova project. Besides interactions with the Nova Corps, Nova has had several encounters with MCU established groups such as; the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Kree, the Skrulls, and Captain Marvel in the comics. Another interesting connection to a future MCU property could be through the Fantastic Four, which is reportedly going to be developed by Spider-Man director Jon Watts. Richard Rider’s Nova was an integral character in the Annihilation storyline and even went on to face Annihilus himself one-on-one in the negative zone. Since Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, fans have been predicting Marvel would eventually develop the Nova character and now they get their wish.

Richard Rider is often described as having a cocky and lighthearted personality, but later goes through a change to a darker, more serious role. There are plenty of interesting options for his casting, but it requires quite a dynamic actor to pull off both aspects of his personality. Plenty of fans have fan-cast actors such as Nathan Fillion, Hayden Christensen, and even Ryan Gosling in the role of Richard Rider. But for me personally, the fan-casting that I’ve seen and like the most is Dylan O’Brien who got his start in Hollywood on MTV’s Teen Wolf and later was the lead in the Maze Runner trilogy. O’Brien for years has shown his great comedic timing and ability to tap into his darker side and perform with gravitas.

Regardless of who is cast as Richard Rider, it will be another powerful cosmic character with plenty of options to meld with current inter-galactic heroes and teams. Since the character’s origin story diverts so greatly from the current MCU continuity, it’s anybody’s guess as to how he will be integrated into Kevin Fegie’s tapestry.

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