My Guardians of the Galaxy write ups were met with mostly positive comments despite me making an error or two. As a follow up to those I am going to introduce a few of the characters who will also be debuting August 1, 2014 when James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy comes to theaters.
The Nova Corps are the Marvel Universe's version of a galaxy wide militarized police force. For a basis for comparison for those who aren't quite sure who they are or what I'm saying it is not altogether unfair to say that they act much as the the Green Lantern Corps of the DC Universe...but these are not the Lanterns. The Nova Corps are there own entity with quite a different background.
The Nova Corps base of operations is the planet Xandar, which we will certainly see in Guardians of the Galaxy. On Xandar exists a living computer, known as the Worldmind, whose consciousness is composed of the memories and experiences of every member, past and present, of the Nova Corps. The Worldmind is also the source of the power that exists withing each member of the Corps: the Nova Force. While the capabilities of the Nova Force aren't crystal clear, it is known that each member of the Corps possesses a piece of the Force while their leader, Nova Prime, carries a bit more of the Nova Force within himself. The most widely used aspect of the Nova Force is to manipulate gravitational fields to allow for flight and personal force fields and to allow the user to generate energy blasts from their body.
While the main task of a Nova Corpsman is the defense of Xandar and the Worldmind, they are also seen throughout the universe, especially during times of great conflict, helping to protect others and put bad guys in their place. Xandar was, sadly, destroyed on three occasions, one of which aligns nicely with the main villain of Guardians of the Galaxy: Nebula, the space pirate. The original destruction of Xandar was at the hands of Zorr who moved on to Earth, pursued by Rhomann Dey, the last remaining Nova Centurion. On Earth a dying Dey passed his powers on to Richard Rider. The third destruction of Xandar is also of interest to future MCU movies as it occurred during the Annihilation Wave. In an effort to save itself, the Worldmind uploaded itself, and the entirety of the Nova Force, into Richard Ryder. Rider was able, with the help of Guardian Drax the Destroyer, to harness its full power, though barely, and use it to defeat Annihilus. It is possible that we may see some combination of these three events on screen in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Nova Richard Rider
We know we will see Nova Centurion Rhomann Dey, played by John C. Reilly. It was Dey who provided the voice over in the Guardians of the Galaxy footage played at SDCC '13 in which he described who each of the Guardians, who are being held by the Nova Corps, are and why they were wanted. One look at the concept art of the Guardians lineup shows that they have, in fact, been detained by Nova Corps.
Read the text under Gamora's left leg!!!
We also know that we will see an on-screen version of Nova Prime, leader of the Corps, played by Glenn Close. It is likely we will see several other members of the Nova Corps during scenes at the lock-up and likely during some big battles. It is STRICTLY MY OPINION that at some point during the movie Xandar will come under attack and that we will see the passing of theNova torch to a human. Whether that human is Richard Ryder or current Marvel Now Nova Sam Alexander is of further speculative interest but I am certainly feeling that the Guardians of the Galaxy is just a gateway to further Cosmic characters in the MCU and that it is quite possible the post-credits stinger here will be the origin of one of Earth's Novas.
There you go with a little bit of background on the Nova Corps. This one got a little long and I certainly cut a bunch out before hand, but these can't be all-inclusive or they'd go on forever.
Next up: Nebula, the space-pirate and THE villain of Guardians of the Galaxy!!!