In February, the news broke that Marvel Studios had shelved TV shows revolving around Nova, Strange Academy, and Terror, Inc. The biggest shocker was Richard Rider's long-awaited MCU debut being put on "pause," especially as he looked to be on the cusp of getting his due in live-action.
Marvel Studios has reportedly decided to pivot away from making movie-adjacent series, choosing instead to focus on multi-season shows like Daredevil: Born Again.
The idea seems to be that by keeping Avengers-level characters in theaters, moviegoers will be more inclined to buy a ticket to see them (Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* were both negatively impacted by heavily featuring characters who had led streaming shows). Now, we have an update on where things stand with Nova and Strange Academy.
According to insider Daniel Richtman, Marvel Studios is trying to decide whether Nova and Strange Academy should be developed as TV shows or movies.
While neither appears any closer to happening than they were several months ago, it's good that they haven't been completely sidelined. A Nova movie feels like the right way to go, but Strange Academy without Doctor Strange runs the risk of becoming another Thunderbolts*. Audiences have made it clear they want event-level movies with A-List casts, not supporting/streaming characters thrown together in random team-ups.
Earlier this year, Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television and Animation at Marvel Studios, broke his silence on reports that Nova will no longer move forward and elaborated on what led to that happening.
"As you know, we've talked about it before, we're developing more than we make," he shared. "It's a traditional television model but we're Marvel so there's more of a spotlight on us. Nova, certainly, is a favourite character of mine as well. There are so many variables. When we develop something, the material might be really great but the timing might be wrong."
"As we figure out what we're gonna greenlight, certain things may have to go on pause from time to time. It doesn't mean they'll never get made but we're only going to make things we feel are ready and can go on for multiple seasons," Winderbaum added.
Rumour has it Nova was going to revolve around Rider rebuilding the Nova Corps after Thanos' attack on Xandar, just as Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave were invading. Glenn Close and John C. Reilly were being eyed to return as their Guardians of the Galaxy characters, with Sam Alexander also expected to appear.
As for Strange Academy, the idea was to focus on Wong as the headmaster of a wizarding school in New Orleans, with pupils like Ironheart's Zelma Stanton and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' America Chavez.
Stay tuned for updates on these MCU projects as we have them.