James Gunn Seemingly Says No To 'NOVA' Appearing In GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 2
It seems Guardians of the Galaxy director/co-writer James Gunn is still not a fan of Nova, aka Richard Rider, as he now takes to Facebook to imply the character will not appear in his Marvel sequel.
Before Marvel decided to go "full-on" with Star-Lord Peter Quill's story in Guardians of the Galaxy, early drafts had a leading part for the cosmic being known as Nova, aka Richard Rider. Though director James Gunn has gone on record saying that he doesn't like the character much... or his helmet, some fans still hope that Rider will be introduced in the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel in some capacity. Especially since the Nova Corps space police force has already been established.
Well, unfortunately for those Nova fans, James Gunn posted the following on Facebook over the weekend: "I don't want Nova right now because I think Quill being the only earthling is important. That serves the entire moviegoing audience and not just the handful of Nova fans. Sorry if that upsets you." The filmmaker was responding to a Facebook commenter who seemed to be upset by his previous remarks about Nova (and his helmet). It is unclear if Gunn was referring to "right now" as in the first Guardians of the Galaxy or its sequel, as he later added that, "I have nothing against Nova in future movies, but it doesn't serve the movie right this moment."
In the Marvel Comics, Richard Rider lived in New York as a teenager before he was chosen at random by Rhomann Dey to inherit his power after Xandar had been destroyed. He has appeared in Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos Imperative and Infinity War, among other titles. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Xandar is currently safekeeping an Infinity Stone, with the mad titan Thanos seeking all six stones to form his Infinity Gauntlet. So, perhaps Richard Rider could be introduced in the two-part Avengers: Infinity War movies if not in the Guardians movies. What do you think? Anyhow, there were other cosmic characters being suggested on Facebook, which prompted James Gunn to reveal that he loves both Starhawk and Annihilus, but Marvel Studios doesn't own the latter.