Marvel’s Nova Reportedly Likely to Be Limited Series for Disney+

It’s been announced that Marvel Studios is developing a Nova project for the Marvel Cinematic Universe – but details on the format of the project were vague, other than Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada being attached. Now comes a follow-up rumor stating that Marvel’s Nova will be a limited TV series for Disney+. While “sources” close to the project are claiming that, it is noted by reporters that the final format of Nova has not been officially confirmed. That said, there is other evidence that could help back up the rumors… 

As we recently reported, Disney and Marvel were spotted quietly setting up production on an “Untitled Space Series” that was meant for Disney+. At the time, we speculated that only two possibilities made sense for a show with such parameters: a Nova series, or some kind of character spinoff from the Secret Invasion Disney+ series (namely Emilia Clarke’s mystery character). Now with the reports that Nova is in development over at Marvel, and rumors it’s headed to Disney+, it seems more than likely that this “Untilted Space Series” was indeed Nova all along.

Thanks to James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the Nova Corps policing force has a grounded and established presence in the MCU franchise, that could be utilized for a big TV event series. Depending on which version of the character mythos Marvel goes with, Nova could be a grounded story about an Earth kid who is recruited into a larger destiny as an intergalactic hero. 

In Marvel Comics, the two most famous “Centurions” of the Nova Corps are Richard Ryder and Sam Alexander. Ryder is the older version of the character (created by John Romita Sr. and Marv Wolfman in the 1970s); he’s a high school kid who is given the uniform and powers of a Nova Centurion by the corps last surviving member, Rhomann Dey. Dey is already played by actor John C. Reilly in the MCU, so that baton could easily be passed according to traditional comics canon. Given Reilly’s backstory in the first Guardians movie, it would be a heartbreaking way to kick off Richard Ryder’s story. 

Sam Alexander is the more modern version of Nova, introduced in the 2010s. The Latino character is the son of a retired Nova Corps member, who takes up his disgraced and drunken father’s mantle and armor and becomes a hero. Marvel fan theory has long speculated that Richard Ryder and Sam Alexander’s stories could also be lumped together in the MCU, creating a situation where Richard Ryder mentors Sam Alexander, or one character uses a mix of both their origin stories. 

Marvel’s Nova is in development.