Nova is coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and more details are emerging about both the Disney+ series and the character itself. Created by writer Marv Wolfman and artist John Buscema, Nova debuted in The Man Called Nova #1 in September 1976. The teenage superhero was part of an intergalactic cosmic police force called the Nova Corps. The idea of Nova joining the MCU has been teased as far back as 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which featured the Nova Corps in a prominent role, while 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War seemingly laid the groundwork for the origin story of the first Nova, Richard Rider, with Thanos destroying Xandar and the Nova Corps.

A Nova television series was first hinted at in 2022, and it sounds like more progress has been made over the years. While promoting the upcoming MCU series Agatha All Along, the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, Brad Winderbaum, spoke with Comic Book about the development process for Nova, and how Marvel is refining its approach to producing new projects.

“So Nova’s in development right now….I will say we’re developing more than we make. This is part of the new Marvel, but we should talk about this because at Marvel, everything has a spotlight on it, and everyone gets super excited, and we love Nova. And we want to get it right. But it’s in development. We got a few things in development and we’re not going to go on a show until we are happy with a pilot. Happy with the bible. So it is in development right now.”

In terms of tone for the series and more cosmic storylines set in the MCU, Nova will be similar to both Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. These two sci-fi franchises are known for dealing with heavy topics such as race, religion, and interpersonal human stories while also having a somewhat grounded feel to them. This can certainly be seen already in other cosmic MCU stories, like Captain Marvel, whose reveal of the Skrulls as a refugee alien species being hunted by the imperial forces of the Kree Empire drew heavily from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica. Winderbaum said:

“I mean, I’ve been really inspired by what [Star] Trek has been doing over the last few years. I think their shows are incredible. That’s why we hired Terry [Matalas] to do Vision Quest with us. But the Nova that’s being developed right now, it’s an amazing ensemble piece. I shouldn’t say too much but it’s a great cast of characters that are in… It’s got shades of Trek, it’s got shades of Battlestar, but also has, it also feels like if you know those comics, you know how heated, let’s say, that Richard Rider kind of world can get, and it certainly embraces all of that.”

Marvel’s New Approach to Television

Winderbaum’s comment, “We’re developing more than we make. This is part of the new Marvel,” shines a light on the future of the MCU and other projects in development. The first wave of MCU Disney+ series arrived under the leadership of Disney CEO Bob Chapek, who was pushing for streaming as the future of the company and required Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm to make more material, including making announcements on the 2020 Disney Investor Day call that the studio was not ready for. In 2021, Marvel Studios released five Disney+ series in addition to four feature films, while 2022 saw three Disney+ original series, three films, and two holiday specials. While some fans loved having more MCU material, it became overwhelming for others.

In November 2022, Bob Iger returned to Disney, replacing Bob Chapek and moving the company in a new direction. 2023 was already in motion, and Disney certainly had a terrible year at the box office, but 2024 has seen Iger’s efforts at Disney begin to take shape. Marvel Studios has released four projects: one film with Deadpool & Wolverine and three television series, with Echo, X-Men ’97, and the upcoming Agatha All Along. In addition, Marvel Studios has not made any major announcements regarding new films beyond 2025, apart from changing Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday. The mission here is to focus on what is already announced and only announce a new project when it is ready. In terms of television series, it seems that there will be another three entriesm with two live-action series, Daredevil: Born Again and Ironheart, and possibly one animated series, either X-Men ’97 Season 2, What If…? Season 3, or Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

This certainly explains why it feels like there are a lot of rumors about Marvel projects, from a sequel to Shang-Chi to The Young Avengers and the rumored second seasons of Moon Knight and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Marvel Studios is working on many projects but won’t announce anything else until ready, as was the case in the early days of the MCU, when films like Doctor Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy were in development for years before they were announced. Kevin Feige has already confirmed that Nova is about three to four years out, and will likely debut during whatever Marvel has planned after the Multiverse Saga.