Iron Man 3's Ty Simpkins on Whether Harley Could Be Nova [Exclusive]

In an interview with ComicBook.com scheduled to go live later today, Iron Man 3 star Ty Simpkins shared with us that he's intrigued by reports that his character could turn out to be the young Marvel hero Nova. Asked where he thought his character might be by the time Marvel was prepared to make a potential Iron Man 4, Simpkins admitted that he hadn't given it much thought--but also suggested that some Internet conspiracy theories are pretty interesting. "Well, I actually never thought about that but we did read an article. Have you ever heard about the comic book Nova?" Simpkins asked. "We read an article about how Harley might be my middle name, and Keener could be my mom's maiden name, and my dad could have joined the Nova Corps. Then my real name's Richie and I actually figure it out because my mom gets killed by an alien, then I figure out that my dad joined the Nova Corps, and I join the Nova Corps and I become Nova."

"Richie," of course, would be Richard Ryder, the name of the longtime bearer of the Nova name. In the comics, Ryder is dead and has been replaced by Sam Alexander (who also appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoons), who has a backstory not dissimilar to what Simpkins described. Many fans have expected that Nova will turn up in the film adaptation of Guardians of the Galaxy, given the fact that he's crossing over with them in the newly-launched Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy series from Marvel NOW! every month, and the fact that Nova's logo appears in the background of Guardians of the Galaxy concept art released last year at Comic-Con.