Avengers: Endgame Director Says It’s Up to James Gunn to Introduce Nova

Despite having Xandar destroyed prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War, Nova was one character the Russo Brothers never considered using in either the third or fourth Avengers movies. Speaking with ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis during An Evening with Joe Russo moments ago, the filmmaker admitted that the Human Rocket was never on the table for inclusion, saying it’d be up to James Gunn to introduce the character in a future cosmic movie.

“We never considered introducing him,” Russo reveals. “I think that exists more in the Guardians universe. That would have to be a James Gunn thing.”

As the filmmaker points out, the third act battle of Avengers: Endgame included dozens upon dozens of characters already existing within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He made sure to point out how difficult it’d be to introduce a character with virtually no backstory before the jaw-dropping Endgame finale.

“But again, we just had too many characters on our plate,” says Russo. “And you can’t introduce somebody who doesn’t have their own movie like [Captain] Marvel. You can’t just throw them into the final chapter of a book.”

Even though Gunn is back at the helm of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it has yet to be seen if he’ll resume the role of fleshing out the cosmic corner of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Guardians threequel will already be chock full of new additions, likely including Chris Hemsworth’s and Adam Warlock, a fan-favorite cosmic being teased in a Vol. 2 post-credits scene.

Avengers: Endgame is now in theaters. Both Guardians of the Galaxy films are available on home media release.

Do you think Richard Rider could end up showing up in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? What other cosmic characters do you think could debut in the Guardians threequel? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt!

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