Despite having a pretty massive influence on the original Guardians of the Galaxy film, the Nova Corps had yet to truly have their own moment to shine in the MCU.
After Thanos admitted to wiping out the Xandarian police force off-screen before the events of Infinity War, many fans wondered if Richard Rider, Nova himself, would pop-up in the massive Avengers: Endgame finale to avenge his fallen comrades. Now that the film is out, we know that didn’t happen, and when asked about the character earlier this week, Endgame director Joe Russo clarified that he was never even considered.
“We never considered introducing him. I think that exists more in the Guardians universe. That would have to be a James Gunn thing… You can’t introduce somebody who doesn’t have their own movie like [Captain] Marvel. You can’t just throw them into the final chapter of a book.”
Now, that doesn’t mean Nova doesn’t have a future in the MCU. The timing is perfect to introduce Richard Rider (or possibly even Sam Alexander) as Xandar and its intergalactic police force seems to have been completely devastated in Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones. In the comics, Richard Rider is selected to become Nova by a dying Rhomann Dey, the last surviving member of his planet. Could the MCU’s version of Dey, previously portrayed by John C. Reilly, have survived this onslaught long enough to shift his powers to a new hero? According to Joe Russo, it’ll be up to James Gunn to figure it all out.
After a bit of controversy last year, James Gunn was recently announced to return as the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and Kevin Feige has confirmed that a Nova solo film is percolating. Will this be the character that takes Phase Four of the MCU intergalactic? Perhaps, but either way, I’m sure this won’t be the last we hear of him as GotG Vol. 3 inches closer to production.
Published: May 7, 2019 09:58 am