There are a number of major Marvel characters yet to make it into the MCU and one right at the top of the list is Nova. Though the cosmic hero isn’t on the slate for Phase 4, Kevin Feige has promised in the past that he’s due for an adaptation. There’s been a lot of reports of a Nova movie being in various stages of development, then, but it seems what it needs to get off the ground is a director, and it looks like the studio may have found one.
TVO of the Lord of the Long Box YouTube channel has claimed on his Twitter account that Marvel’s looking at Jon Watts, who’s already helmed both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man; Far From Home for them, to make a Nova movie. The tweet also confirmed that the MCU version will be Richard Rider, the original and most popular iteration of the character from the comics.
Marvel Studios is eyeing Spider-Man Far From director Jon Watts to helm Richard Rider Nova solo film. More on this scoop on our Wednesday live show. #RichardRider #Nova #MCU
— Lords of the Long Box (@timvo) September 10, 2019
Previous scoopers have reported that Nova will first debut in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which makes a lot of sense seeing as the Nova Corps were introduced into the franchise back in 2014’s GotG. Avengers: Infinity War referenced the decimation of Xandar as well, which presumably also wiped out the Corps. This sets the stage neatly for Richard to continue their legacy. In fact, he was even going to turn up in IW in the early scripting stages.
As for who could play him, TVO recently released a related scoop saying that Marvel’s considering an actor known for appearing in a Christopher Nolan movie for the lead. He didn’t narrow it down anymore than that, but Dunkirk‘s Fionn Whitehead and even Harry Styles could be contenders.
Tell us, though, Nova fans, would Jon Watts be your pick to direct? And who do you want to play the character? Have your say in the comments section down below.