NOVA Writer Confirms Richard Rider and Teases the Fallout From Thanos’ Attack on Xandar
The Nova Corps got absolutely wrecked by Thanos before Avengers: Infinity War, and Marvel Studios never actually showed us what happened. If Richard Rider is finally headed into the MCU, it sounds like Nova could be the project that deals with the fallout.
Michael Waldron, who is writing the long-awaited Nova movie, recently offered a few intriguing hints about the project, including confirmation that he’s thinking about Rich Rider and the destruction of the Nova Corps.
Earlier this year, reports claimed Waldron was working on a Nova series. We later learned that Waldron was actually developing it as a movie rather than a streaming series.
Waldron has a strong working relationship with Marvel Studios. He wrote Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, served as showrunner on Loki, and is involved with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
While talking to The Wrap about Season 2 of Chad Powers, Waldron was asked about the status of Nova. Marvel secrecy prevented him from saying much, but he did name the version of the character he’s interested in exploring.
"I don’t know if I can say anything about anything I’m doing with Marvel. But I will say, I love Nova. I love Rich Rider. However we expand the cosmic side of the MCU will be really cool."
Richard Rider has been waiting a long time to join the MCU, and Marvel has a natural path for bringing him into the story. The Nova Corps debuted in Guardians of the Galaxy, immediately prompting speculation that Rider would eventually show up somewhere in the cosmic corner of the franchise.
That never happened during James Gunn’s run with the Guardians, but the MCU left Rider with a wild potential origin story.
Before Infinity War, Thanos attacked Xandar and took the Power Stone from the Nova Corps. The event happened offscreen, leaving the fate of the Corps largely unexplored. Waldron indicated that a Nova movie would need to confront what happened there.
When asked whether Thanos’ decimation of the Nova Corps would have to be addressed, Waldron replied:"They would have to reckon with that. Yeah.”
That could give Nova a interesting place to begin. Rather than simply introducing another cosmic superhero, the movie could explore what remains of the Nova Corps after one of the MCU’s biggest villains tore through Xandar.
Waldron also brought up one of the biggest Marvel Comics stories associated with Nova when discussing where filmmakers might look for inspiration.
"Annihilation is, I mean, I guess that’s the go-to, right? But the character spans a lot of generations, and I think maybe that’s why it’s taken some time to get him to the screen: figuring out where do you start that story?
“Do you start him on Earth? Do you start in space, as part of the Nova Corps? Whoever does it, I hope they do a good job."
Annihilation would certainly be an awesome source of inspiration. The massive cosmic Marvel storyline helped redefine Richard Rider and put him right in the middle of an intergalactic war against Annihilus and the Annihilation Wave.
Annihilus had previously been rumored as the villain of Marvel’s earlier Nova series plans. Whether any of that survives the transition to a feature film remains to be seen.
Marvel Studios officially confirmed in 2022 that Nova was coming to the MCU, but the form of the project has shifted along the way. Sabir Pirzada was reportedly writing a version intended for streaming before those plans were shelved, with Waldron later coming aboard to develop a new movie pitch.
Previous reports also suggested that Richard Rider and Sam Alexander could both appear. With the project being reworked for the big screen, there’s no guarantee those ideas are still part of Marvel’s plans.
Sam would certainly give Marvel another interesting angle. He made his comics debut in Marvel Point One in November 2011 before getting his own series in February 2013. The Arizona teenager inherited a Nova helmet from his missing father and eventually took up the mantle after receiving training from Gamora and Rocket Raccoon.
The Nova movie remains in the early stages of development, so there’s still plenty Marvel could change before cameras start rolling.
What Waldron has revealed points toward a movie rooted in the existing history of the MCU’s cosmic universe, with Xandar, Thanos and the destroyed Nova Corps potentially playing important roles in Rider’s arrival.
After years of waiting for Nova to finally blast into the MCU, picking up the story from the ruins Thanos left behind sounds like a pretty solid place to start.