Blue Beetle Star Xolo Maridueña Speaks Out on Marvel’s Nova Rumors (Exclusive)

It’s a matter of when, not if, the Human Rocket enters the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nova, the fan-favorite cosmic Marvelite, has been a longtime request by fans of the MCU, and Hollywood trades have recently reported the project is in development at Marvel Studios. Recent rumors have pointed towards the possible live-action debut of the Sam Alexander version of the character, which many would like to see be played by Blue Beetle star Xolo Maridueña. ComicBook.com’s Brandon Davis caught up with the Cobra Kai alumnus at red carpet premiere of Black Adam, and he addressed the rumors head-on.

“I’ve heard that one before. And look, DC is the first one to pull the trigger on, ‘let’s have a latino superhero.’ So they’re talking the talk and walking the walk,” Maridueña told us. “If that Nova project gets made soon, I’d love to see if there is a Sam Alexander Nova, I would love that. Getting more people in the door. We’ll see what they do.”

At one point, the character was slated for inclusion in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, though the writers behind the movie opted to remove him from an already-packed film.

“We actually had, I remember in the big manifesto thing that we did, where the first work we did on these movies where we just… every possible storyline that you could take from what’s around, that Nova has the Xandarian Worldmind,” Avengers: Infinity War co-writer Christopher Markus told ComicBook.com in 2019. “Yeah, the Xandarian Worldmind, was that after… it was almost going… In this conception, he would be the herald, not unlike the Hulk, who was actually standing in for the Silver Surfer, but that one member of the Nova Corps survived Thanos’ attack. The Xandarian Worldmind would be the voice of Glenn Close, because you had her and why not? And that he would be Richard Rider and he would come to earth.”

What other cosmic characters would you like to see join the MCU? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer @AdamBarnhardt up on Twitter to chat all things MCU!