While the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a roller coaster of quality in the post-Avengers: Endgame days, 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is a high-water mark of Marvel’s new era. Its predecessors were just as good, as was that random Christmas special side adventure. One reason the Guardians movies are so beloved is how disconnected they are from the rest of the MCU as the team of misfits gets up to shenanigans outside of New York City and Earth.
Marvel’s new big solo film could potentially recapture that sectioned-off glory of the Guardians movies. On Monday, Deadline reported Marvel is working on a Nova film with Michael Waldron writing it. Waldron is a veteran of Marvel’s recent phases, having created Loki (Awesome!), written Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Less awesome.), and co-written Avengers: Doomsday (TBD on how awesome that is.).
Deadline’s report states “insiders stress the project is still in early development” and that Waldron may direct the film “if it moves forward,” so there’s no guarantee that a Nova-starring movie comes to fruition. (Need I remind you of Mahershala Ali’s Blade movie?) This also isn’t the first Nova project Marvel has taken a stab at as it previously hit pause on a Disney Plus series based on the character. Still, I can’t help but hope it does end up happening as the MCU is in need of some successful space adventures.
Nova (no relation to Cassandra Nova) is traditionally Richard Rider, a member of the Nova Corps, who’ve already appeared in the Guardians movies (and count Glenn Close, John C. Reilly, and Peter Serafinowicz among their ranks). They’re an intergalactic police force, and Rider is one of their standout members; he’s also the only surviving centurion member when the Corps gets hit badly by Annihilus in Annihilation, a standout Marvel Comics event that helped set the stage for the eventual Guardians of the Galaxy runs that the films would take inspiration from.
In many ways, a Nova movie could function a lot like a Guardians movie with Nova leading a team of Nova Corps members. A Rocket now leads a team of Guardians, as shown at the end of Vol. 3, maybe ol’ Rich Rider could join the group (like he does in Al Ewing’s Guardians run) and turn the Nova movie into a quasi-Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4. Either way, the MCU could benefit from a film that has no ties to any Avengers adventures on Earth, has no multiversal shenanigans, and works as a standalone project. Nova could do exactly that, Guardians or no Guardians along for the ride.
Rich Rider isn’t the only hero to go by Nova in Marvel Comics. The teenage Sam Alexander is also a Nova Corps member, and it’s possible Waldron’s movie stars the younger hero. If that’s the case, maybe he’ll meet Kamala Khan and the MCU’s other heroes for a potential Young Avengers or Champions project, something that fans have long expected since Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, and more have introduced several young heroes.
Until Nova is officially announced as part of phase… whatever is next, don’t take it as a guarantee Rider or Alexander join the MCU. What is guaranteed, however, is Marvel fans are getting two new movies this year: this month’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day and December’s Avengers: Doomsday.