Recently, reports surfaced that Marvel Studios is seriously rethinking its Disney+ strategy. Marvel “paused” the in-development Nova series, which sounds like a nicer word for “canceled.” (At least, canceled for now.) Marvel also shelved the proposed Strange Academy and Terror, Inc. series. Meanwhile, the focus will be less on series with movie budgets, like Loki or Moon Knight, and more on shows like Daredevil. Disney+ wants its series designed to run multiple seasons and feel more like television, not a feature film broken up into six episodes. This is a solid course correction. However, Marvel should reconfigure Nova in particular to what it should have always been—a big-budget, sci-fi spectacle film.
For those of you out there unfamiliar with the concept of Nova, he’s a cosmic Marvel hero who debuted in the ’70s. Nova was created by New Teen Titans and Blade creator Marv Wolfman, together with legendary artist John Buscema. In his original incarnation, he was middle-class New York City teenager Richard Rider, who was given the responsibility and power of being the last member of the Interstellar Nova Corps. Armed with a StarCorps suit, he could fly in space, project energy blasts, and even display limited super strength. The Corps originated from the planet Xandar. (MCU fans should be familiar with the Nova Corps and Xandar from Guardians of the Galaxy.) Yes, it’s all a bit “Spider-Man meets Green Lantern” and his helmet was kind of goofy. But somehow, it all worked.
Richard Rider debuted in The Man Called Nova #1 in 1976, and his series ran for 25 issues. After his ongoing series ended, the so-called “Human Rocket” disappeared into obscurity for a decade. He then became a lead character in Marvel’s team book New Warriors in 1989. This new prominence led to several series over the next few years. Eventually, Nova played a big role in the popular Annihilation event in the 2000s. A new teenage Nova was introduced in 2007 named Sam Alexander. While never gaining popularity on the level of other Marvel heroes, Nova as a concept is still ripe with potential, especially for a live-action film.
Allegedly, the now-canceled Disney+ series would have dealt directly with the decimation of Xandar from Thanos. They mentioned this event in Infinity War, but never showed it on screen. In the wake of that destruction, the Nova Corps would have to rebuild. Earthling Richard Rider would be recruited to help restore a new, youthful Nova squadron. The rumored vibe was “Top Gun in space,” and John C. Reilly and Glenn Close would likely have returned to their roles as Nova Corps elite. John C. Reilly’s Nova Centurion Rhomann Dey was the character in the comics who passed on the Nova title to Richard Rider. Together the Nova Corps would have to face the threat of Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave from the Negative Zone. Annihilus is one of the last, great Marvel Comics villains still awaiting a live-action debut.
All of this sounds, to use an overused term, extremely epic. But it’s maybe just too epic to be a streaming series. Could a streaming series really do this concept justice? This deserves to be a feature film, with a proper budget that allows them to go full sci-fi fantasy with it. Now that the cosmic side of the MCU is dormant, with the end of Guardians of the Galaxy, something needs to fill that slot like Nova. You add the right star as Richard Rider and a director with a distinct style, and it won’t matter if the general audience has never heard of the character.
Honestly, we can see the thinking Marvel Studios had in developing this franchise for Disney+ over theatrical. It’s not as well-known an IP as Iron Man or Thor. But neither was Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014. And look how that turned out. Sure, it might go the way of Eternals and not connect with audiences on a wide scale. But if Marvel never takes chances, they’ll just be releasing sequels to Infinity Saga heroes forever. Putting it on Disney+ was the safer bet, but maybe the time for playing it safe is over. Nova deserves his shot at the spotlight, but he deserves the scope that goes with a feature film. Marvel Studios just needs to pull the trigger on it.