Marvel Cinematic Universe fans have just received a major update on the upcoming Disney+ series, Nova.
Who is Nova?
Nova is the alias of Richard Rider, who was created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Romita Sr. and first appeared in Marvel Comics’ The Man Called Nova #1 in 1976. He is a member of the Nova Corps, a cosmic police force introduced into the MCU in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). While other characters have used the Nova title in the comics, like young superhero Sam Alexander, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed in July 2024 that Richard Rider will be Nova in the MCU.
An MCU series centered around Nova was first reported to be in development in 2022, although Marvel Studios did not officially confirm the project until earlier this year. While details remain largely under wraps for Nova, Brad Winderbaum — the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios — recently shared some new information about the cosmic series while speaking with ComicBook.com about the hotly-anticipated WandaVision spinoff, Agatha All Along, which premieres on Disney+ on September 18.
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“So Nova’s in development right now. We are. But I will say we’re developing more than we make. This is part of the new Marvel,” Winderbaum revealed. “But we should talk about this because at Marvel everything has a spotlight on it and everyone gets super excited and we love Nova. And we want to get it right. But it’s in development. We got a few things in development and we’re not going to go on a show until we are happy with a pilot. Happy with the bible. So it is in development right now.”
The Marvel executive also shared that Nova will be “an amazing ensemble piece,” with a “great cast of characters.” He continued, “It’s got shades of [Star] Trek, it’s got shades of Battlestar [Galactica], but also has, it also feels like if you know those comics, you know how heated, let’s say, that Richard Rider kind of world can get, and it certainly embraces all of that.”
No word yet on when Nova might get greenlit, although Feige suggested back in July that the series was still “three or four years” from being released. This means that MCU fans may have to wait until 2027 or 2028 for Nova to premiere on Disney+.
