After nearly two years since The Illuminerdi broke the first rumor about NOVA joining the MCU, it appears the time has finally come for Marvel’s intergalactic peace-keeping agency to join the ever-expanding Marvel-verse. According to Deadline, Marvel has given Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada the green light to develop a script for a NOVA project in the MCU.
The source does not specify whether the NOVA project will play a large role in the main MCU narrative or if it will be a limited series for Disney+. But, with so much going on in a Multiverse of Madness, there are a number of intriguing ways the Nova Corps can be integrated into the MCU – and certainly a number of roles they could play. If Pirzada decides to use the character’s origin stories as source material, we could get a character who is crucial to the MCU’s future. But how significant is NOVA exactly?
NOVA’s origin and powers
While MCU fans saw a glimpse of the Nova Corps in Guardians of the Galaxy, it didn’t appear like they would play a larger role because their home had already been destroyed by the Mad Titan. However, in a strange twist, this is where the Nova story begins to get intriguing.
The Nova Corps was an intergalactic peacekeeping agency comprised of members from all over the galaxy. They wore formidable helmets that granted them super speed, greater strength, flight, and damage resistance. In the comics, they also have the ability to manipulate energy waves – akin to a certain MCU captain.
Although NOVA has a lot of tales in the comics, the versions of Richard Rider (1976) and Sam Alexander (2011) remain the most noteworthy. The main similarities between the versions may be that they both feature narratives about Nova’s early days as a superhuman coming to terms with his new abilities.
Aside from that, the Rider version of NOVA has a greater audience and appears to be the more likely candidate for acceptance by the show’s writers. Rider obtains his powers from Rhomann Dey, the last remaining Nova Corps member who crashes to Earth after battling Zorr the Conqueror in the 1976 Nova comic book created by Marv Wolfman. A dying Dey transmits his talents to Rider, and thus another hero is born.
Although incorporating the Annihilation event into the MCU is still a long shot, there are a lot of intriguing connections between NOVA and existing MCU characters.
If Marvel concludes that we’ve had enough of origin stories, they may prod Pirzada to write a script including the Annihilation event. However, this would necessitate the introduction of additional key characters, such as The Fantastic Four and the villain Annihilus.
NOVA’s possible entry points
While the Multiverse of Madness is supposed to introduce some incredibly exciting characters to the MCU, just a few of them have as much ties to the main MCU canon as NOVA has. While the NOVA Corps may easily be utilized as back-up enforcers for the Multiverse, their relationships with numerous characters in the existing Marvel universe suggest otherwise.
- NOVA and the GOTG
Apart from being a member of The Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, Nova’s Richard Rider also had a romantic relationship with Gamora. Given that Gamora is now dead in the MCU, it’s quite doubtful that they’d want to veer in that direction.
- NOVA and Thanos, Xander Destruction Connection
Considering Thanos already annihilated Xander on his Mad Titan crusade, a narrative in which Rider is revealed to be the sole remaining Nova Corps member makes a lot of sense. However, as the events of Dr. Strange’s Multiverse of Madness unfold and we see a far more fragile multiverse, it becomes simpler to introduce a version of Richard Rider who has already seen the Annihilation event and is far more sophisticated.
- NOVA and Secret Invasion, skrulls,
Marvel said earlier this year that a Secret Invasion project was in the works, which would primarily involve Sam Jackson’s Nick Fury. It was revealed that the project would also expose what the Skrulls have been up to all this time, and that it might even include NOVA. In the comics, the Nova Corps and the Skrulls have been known to clash on several occasions.
- NOVA just as a security outfit
The Marvels; the sequel to Captain Marvel, is set for release in 2023 and will reintroduce Carol Danvers as well as Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau from WandaVision. Ms. Marvel’s connection to the upcoming Captain Marvel sequel will be clearer after it debuts in a few weeks. Given Rider’s cosmic skills, he is the ideal teammate for a Marvel team made up of cosmic entities.
NOVA and the multiverse of madness
As the multiversal events of the MCU’s recent titles – Loki, Spiderman: No Way Home, and the upcoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – show, the doors have been pushed open for any form of connection to be explored. And the Nova Corps is fantastic test material.
Rather than having to choose between adopting material from the 1976 version of NOVA, Richard Rider, which has a greater fanbase, or the more current version of Sam Alexander, Marvel has the freedom to adopt both narratives under Multiverse principles.
According to recent Cosmic Circus reports, Marvel may be considering introducing both forms of NOVA – Rider and Alexander. After the events of Spiderman: No Way Home, connecting two versions of the same character is almost considered fair play. However, because Sam Alexander’s version is much newer, they may introduce Rider as a much more advanced version of NOVA than Sam.
In the comics, the two versions encounter only once, which seems insufficient to construct a storyline. However, when Loki’s events introduced the MCU to variations, introducing variants of the Nova Corps that survived the destruction of Xander can be very useful origin material.
Richard Rider’s MCU Future
As the MCU extends its focus to the mystical and cosmic realms of its universe, intergalactic beings like the Nova Corps can play pivotal roles. Because when multiversal events “get out of hand” in the Multiverse of Madness, Marvel would be literally spoiled for choice in terms of where and how to introduce NOVA.
While the Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special could be a very obvious point to introduce NOVA – considering their links in the comic – we’ll have to wait till there’s more information about the NOVA project.
