'Guardians of the Galaxy' Channels Nova in Unused Nova Corps Concept Art

It may be unclear exactly when Nova will properly enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a previous entry in the franchise initially brought part of the character onscreen.

Marvel Studios artist Charlie Wen recently shared a piece of Guardians of the Galaxy concept art on his Facebook. The art, which was for the film's Nova Corps, borrows a lot of the similar style from Richard Rider/Nova's costume in the comics.

Granted, the Nova Corps' design evolved quite a lot by the time it appeared in Guardians, but it's certainly interesting that the early renderings channeled Nova a bit more. Athough the Nova Corps and several Rider-adjacent characters — such as Nova Prime Irani Rael, Rhomann Dey, and Garthan Saal — were shown in the first Guardians flick, it was a watered down version without the slightest mention of Rider or Sam Alexander.

Rider first appeared in Marvel comics in Nova #1 (1976) as created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Romita Sr. Since his debut, Nova has been one of the heavy-hitters of the cosmos, often times finding himself aligned with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Nova's biggest time to shine came in Keith Giffen's Annihilation and Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning's Annihilation: Conquest spin-off.

According to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, Nova is a character they've had their eyes set on for quite some time.

"Nova is… if we have a big board with a bunch of characters that have more immediate potential, Nova is on that board," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told ComicBook.com. "Because of the connection to the Guardians universe, because there are more than one examples to pull from in the comics that are interesting. And you're absolutely right, he was in the earliest drafts of the [Guardians of the Galaxy]."

What do you think of this Nova Corps concept art? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, Avengers: Endgame on April 26, 2019, and Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5, 2019.