The MCU’s post-Avengers: Secret Wars slate is dominated by big hitters like X-Men, Ghost Rider and Black Panther 3, but one under-the-radar movie in development is Nova, about Nova Centurion Richard Rider. The Nova movie is still currently undated, but despite being years out, screenwriter Michael Waldron has dropped the first hint of what the movie might be about.
In the comics, Nova inherits the mantle of Nova Centurion when the last surviving member of the planet Xandar’s elite Nova Corps, Rhomann Dey, dies. The Nova Corps, if you’ll recall, are wiped out off-screen in the MCU before the events of Avengers: Infinity War by Thanos in pursuit of the Power Stone. According to Waldron, the destruction of the Nova Corps will need to be addressed in the Nova movie. “They would have to reckon with that. Yeah,” Waldron told The Wrap.
Noting that “however we expand the cosmic side of the MCU will be really cool,” suggesting that the Nova movie will do exactly that, Waldron touched on some of his favorite Nova comic runs. “Annihilation is, I mean, I guess that’s the go-to, right?” Waldron said, referring to the 2006 comic series. “But the character spans a lot of generations, and I think maybe that’s why it’s taken some time to get him to the screen, figuring out ‘Where do you start that story?’ Do you start him on Earth? Do you start in space, as part of the Nova Corps? Whoever does it, I hope they do a good job.”
Waldron is couching his quotes with a few qualifiers here, as his upcoming Marvel movie isn’t officially on the release schedule just yet. The best we have for the time being is Kevin Feige himself confirming that Nova would be a movie, and not a TV show, at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. And you can’t blame Waldron for playing it safe given Marvel’s zipped-lips policy.
“I don’t know if I can say anything about anything I’m doing with Marvel. But I will say, I love Nova. I love Rich Rider,” Waldron said. Spoken like a person who’s well aware of the consequences for breaking an NDA.
Since co-creating Loki, Waldron has become a go-to screenwriter for Marvel Studios. In the years since, he has penned Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and is a credited co-writer on Avengers: Doomsday, alongside Spider-Man regulars Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Stephen McFeely is Doomsday’s main writer. Despite having four credited writers, however, co-director Joe Russo recently said that Doomsday went into production without a finished script, as this allows “magic” to happen. Whatever you say, Joe.
Nova does not currently have a release date. Avengers: Doomsday releases on December 18. While you wait, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows for everything else the MCU has in store.