A recent rumor claimed that It Ends With Us star Brandon Sklenar could be on Marvel Studios' radar to play Richard Rider in the upcoming Nova series, but if there's any truth to it, the actor isn't prepared to confirm anything.
Sklenar admitted that he did hear about rumor while chatting to The Playlist, but said any potential Nova talks were "news to" him. However, he did reveal that he does have a meeting with Marvel Studios' Kevin Feige on his agenda.
"Yeah, I heard about that. It was news to me. I think I was supposed to meet with [Marvel Studios/Marvel Television] at some point here… with [Kevin] Feige. We’ll see. That would be cool.”
Sklenar's name might be familiar even if you haven't seen It Ends With Us, as the actor is a popular fan-pick to play the DCU's Batman and has expressed interest in suiting-up as the Dark Knight on more than one occasion.
Though Sklenar hasn't actually had talks with DC Studios about The Brave and the Bold, it definitely sounds like Bruce Wayne is the role he would much prefer to land if given the choice.
“I’ve seen a bunch of fan-casting for this Batman thing, and that’s very interesting to me, I love Batman. That would be a dream, for sure. But we’ll see what happens, I’m built for it. It would have to be the right thing at the right time.”
Plot details for Nova are still mostly under wraps, but according to a recent rumor from Daniel Richtman, Annihilus will be the villain of the series. This character was reportedly going to make his MCU debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 before it was decided to go with the High Evolutionary instead.
The Nova Corps were introduced in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, which led to speculation that Richard Rider would eventually find his way into the GOTG franchise. James Gunn showed little interest in the character, but the Nova series will most likely spin-out from Thanos decimating most of the Corps in the build-up to Avengers: Infinity War.
Marvel Studios Head of Streaming, Television and Animation, Brad Winderbaum described the eries as an "amazing ensemble piece with a great cast of characters" possibly indicating that both Richard Rider and Sam Alexander will feature. He also says that the show will have "shades of" both Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.
Sam Alexander first appeared in the Marvel Point One one-shot in back in November 2011 before going on to lead his own series beginning in February 2013. The Arizona teen inherited the Nova helmet from his missing father, and officially took up the mantle after being trained by Guardians of the Galaxy members Gamora and Rocket Raccoon.
Here's what Feige had to say about Nova's MCU introduction back in 2021.
"Timing is relative, right?" said the Marvel Studios boss. "I think I'd been talking about Doctor Strange eight years before that movie came out. So, 'immediate potential' is relative. But clearly, we are not shying away from the cosmic end of storytelling right in the sweet spot of the Nova Corps and Nova himself."