After a long, long, long development process, the MCU’s Nova series could finally be on the horizon. Nova will take fans back to outer space, following the most powerful and only surviving member of the Nova Corps, Richard Rider. The eagerly anticipated series was first said to be in development in September of this year. However, a project being greenlit for “development” doesn’t guarantee audiences will ever see it. Thankfully, in the case of Nova, the developmental process is going well, and Brad Winderbaum, Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, is hopeful about the series moving into production.

Appearing on the Phase Hero podcast with Brandon Davis, Brad Winderbaum was asked about the status of the Nova series. “It’s in development,” Winderbaum jokingly began, attempting to dodge the question about the show’s status. He then said that Marvel Studios’ process involves “[developing] more than we make,” which is why many MCU projects have been lost to developmental hell in the past. However, from what he had seen, Winderbaum teased that there’s a good chance Nova will make it to fruition. He continued:

“What I’ve seen so far is extremely promising. I will say that.”

When it was first announced in September, Winderbaum was cautious about the show’s development, saying, “we’re not going to go on a show until we are happy with a pilot.” The latest update gives us hope that Nova will arrive on Disney+ sometime in the future, and won’t be stuck in developmental hell like Blade. During the interview, Winderbaum also teased that Nova is a tonally different series from anything Marvel Studios have made before. “The vibe of that show is very unique and very cool,” he concluded.

Fans Have Been Waiting a Decade for ‘Nova’

While Richard Rider’s standalone series was only announced a couple of months back, MCU fans have been waiting a decade to see the powerful galactic hero arrive on screen. The Nova Corps were introduced to the MCU in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, in 2014. Fans were expecting Nova to be granted a standalone project shortly after… but nothing happened. In Avengers: Infinity War, it was revealed that Thanos had already decimated Xandar, the home world of the Nova Empire, to acquire the Power Stone. Some believed that Marvel Studios was queuing up Nova to debut in Avengers: Endgame, where he might seek revenge for his home planet… but nothing happened.

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A Nova Disney+ series being in official development is the closest we’ve come so far to seeing Richard Rider in live action. As the project is in its infancy, very little is known about the series. Fans have been sharing their casting picks for Richard Rider in the MCU since Guardians of the Galaxy. At present, Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner), John Boyega (Star Wars), Logan Lerman (Fury), and Jared Padalecki (Supernatural) appear to be the fan favorites. Nova hasn’t been given an official release date or window.

The next MCU series to hit Disney+ is Season 3 of
What If…?
, which debuts on December 22, 2024.