Marvel lines up Moon Knight scribe for a Nova project

By Blair Marnell March 24, 2022

Moon Knight will be the next live-action Marvel series on Disney+ when it premieres March 30. And apparently, Moon Knight screenwriter Sabir Pirzada really impressed his bosses, because Marvel has already lined him up for a new project. Via Deadline, Pirzada will bring Nova to live-action life. However, the report notes that it’s unclear if it will be a feature film or a Disney+ show.

Nova, aka Richard Rider, was created by Marvel legends Marv Wolfman and John Romita Sr. in 1976 as an everyman superhero in the mold of Spider-Man. Unlike Spidey, Richard was chosen by Rhomann Dey, a fatally wounded member of the Nova Corps, to carry on as the last Nova Centurion. It’s very similar to DC’s origin for Green Lantern/Hal Jordan, and Richard even went on to establish a new Nova Corps. Richard’s Nova powers include flight, speed, super strength, and the ability to survive in the vacuum of space.

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In 2011, Jeph Loeb and artist Ed McGuinness introduced a new Nova, Sam Alexander. Unlike Richard, Sam’s father was in the Nova Corps before returning to Earth. Years after his father disappeared, Sam found his dad’s Nova helmet and became a teenage hero. Both Richard and Sam currently share the Nova code name and powers.

Nova illustration by Adi Granov.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has already set the stage for Nova’s adventures. The first Guardians of the Galaxy film introduced the Nova Corps and their home world, Xandar. Glenn Close portrayed Nova Prime, while John C. Reilly portrayed Rhomann Dey, the Nova Centurian who gave Richard his powers in the comics.

However, the Nova Corps members in Guardians of the Galaxy didn’t have any powers or abilities. They were also slaughtered off-screen in Avengers: Infinity War when Thanos claimed his first Infinity Stone. That’s important, because the devastation of Xandar was the inciting incident that ultimately brought Rhomann Dey to Richard Rider. Essentially, Nova’s origin story has already begun in the MCU, and now we’ll finally be able to see it play out.

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