When it comes to the cosmic side of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are so many storylines to explore for the studio going forward. Save for Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor, there has been very little content in terms of cosmic stories, and as a result, there are hundreds of characters just waiting in line to make their big screen debut.
One such individual is Nova a.k.a. Richard Rider and writer/director James Gunn recently had some very positive things to say about his potential involvement in the future of the MCU. Asked specifically about Nova during a Facebook Live chat, Gunn said,
Yes, definitely. Nova comes up occasionally as someone we might use. One of the things I’m doing with creating Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it will take place after the next two Avengers movies, and it will help to set up the next 10, 20 years of Marvel movies. It’s going to really expand the cosmic universe. We’re going to be setting up new characters. It will be the last movie with this version of Guardians of the Galaxy.
James Gunn also made it known that Richard Rider a.k.a. Nova has been featured in discussions in that arena and he could be featured in the next 10-20 years of the huge MCU.
First introduced back in 1976, Richard Rider was created by Marv Wolfman and John Buscema as the lead of his very own Marvel comic. Introduced as a high school student living in New York, his life is changed when he meets the dying Nova Corps officer Rhomann Dey, who has chosen Richard as his replacement… (sounds like a Green Lantern story, right?) The uniform and powers give him superhuman strength, as well as the ability to turn himself into a human rocket.
While serving as a member of the Nova Corps on Xandar, the entire planet was attacked and destroyed, leaving Richard Rider as the only surviving member. In order to preserve the history of Xandar and the Nova Corps, he winds up being “uploaded” with the Xandarian Worldmind, a living supercomputer. This gives him instant access to incredible amounts of information, but it’s also an incredibly important responsibility and burden that he carries.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has already done a good amount of groundwork for the introduction of Richard Rider, as the franchise has already included Xandar, the Nova Corps, and even Rhomann Dey (who was played by John C. Reilly and promoted to Denarian in the first Guardians of the Galaxy). So only time will tell when Nova will be introduced… Till then, we can only make do with the little we get in the MCU until the cosmic line of stories takes off.