Last week, a rumor circulated online that Michael Waldron was working on Marvel's long-awaited Nova series. The report appeared to be debunked, but it's now come to light that there was some truth to it after all.
According to Deadline, Waldron has indeed been tapped to pen a Nova project, but it will be a movie, not a streaming show.
Waldron wrote Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, and also served as showrunner on Loki. He is involved with Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel Studios finally confirmed plans to introduce Nova to the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2022, and since then, there have been conflicting reports about which medium the project was being developed for. It seems Sabir Pirzada was writing the script for a series, but the idea was ultimately shelved, and "Waldron has been brought on to tackle a new pitch."
The Nova movie is still in the very early stages of development, and plot details are still under wraps. We had heard that Annihilus was going to be the villain of the series, but plans may have changed. It was also claimed that both Richard Rider and Sam Alexander would feature, but again, the idea may be completely reworked for the big screen.
The Nova Corps was introduced in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, which led to speculation that Rider would eventually find his way into the GOTG franchise. James Gunn showed little interest in the character, but the Nova film 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 series as an "amazing ensemble piece with a great cast of characters." He also said 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."