Since Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 has officially been announced, with James Gunn returning to write and direct, a lot of people are already starting to speculate on which superheroes will be added to the mix. One of the names previously thrown around when Nathan Fillion’s cameo was announced in Guardians Of The Galaxy was Richard Rider aka Nova, but this rumor was ultimately shot down and Nova’s appearance was debunked. I know, Nathan Fillion would have been a great Nova, but fear not Marvel fans, because it looks like Richard Rider has made a pretty strong case for Gunn’s sequel, and there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the New Yorker enter Marvel’s cinematic universe sooner than later.
Producer Kevin Feige has been dropping plenty of hints while running the press circuit for Guardians Of The Galaxy, and when asked about Nova, he revealed the character was actually incorporated in an early version of Gunn’s script, but he was eventually cut. Obviously there’s a want to see Rider become a hero on screen, and with the upcoming sequel, this seems like a perfect opportunity to enlist Nova.
At the San Diego Comic Con this weekend, Feige was also asked about the possibility of future stand-alone films for other characters in the Guardians Of The Galaxy universe, again citing Nova as an example. This is what the super-producer had to say:
I think, you know, if ‘Guardians’ works the way we certainly hope it works, that would probably be the franchise to meet a lot of those people, that would be our entrance into numerous other cosmic folk. If we spin any of those out into individual movies, that’s a question for down the line, but I think we would see a lot of those characters in a future ‘Guardians’ movie.
With all these comments coming together, Nova fans should be feeling pretty good right about now. Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 looks like it will introduce a slew of new “cosmic” characters who wouldn’t truly fit The Avengers more grounded approach, and again, Nova has already been part of script treatments, so his name will probably top the list of newcomers ready to throw down with Star-lord and his band of misfits.
It’s nice to see Marvel looking to bring lesser-known heroes (in mainstream terms) to the big screen whenever they get a chance, really enriching a vast universe full of talking raccoons, lumbering tree-folk, green giants, and Norse legends – don’t you think?
