The Nova project has been stuck in development limbo for years, even after Kevin Feige talked about the project on the record back in 2024. Nova has largely stayed under wraps since then, with no concrete details on cast or premise, but the studio has reportedly broken its silence on where things stand. Despite it now being 12 years later, the character of Richard Rider (aka Nova) was tangentially set up in James Gunn's first Guardians of the Galaxy movie.
Just hours after reports linked Michael Waldron to Nova, ComicBookMovie reported that Marvel Studios has confirmed he isn't writing the series after all. This marks the first time Marvel Studios has said anything official about Nova since Feige's comment two years ago.
The initial news stemmed from the Writers Guild of America West directory, which listed Waldron's Television Series Employment History as including Nova for the 2026-2027 season.
Waldron's name being connected to Nova seemed like a natural fit, considering he has become an MCU veteran in the Multiverse Saga. The 39-year-old writer created Loki, wrote Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and even worked on the Avengers: Doomsday screenplay, so his name carries real weight at Marvel Studios.
Considering the Nova project has sat in near total silence ever since, even a denial from Marvel Studios is significant news at this point.
Nova will be a Guardians of the Galaxy spinoff whenever it does arrive, since the Nova Corps was first established in the original Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014.
Given where the team ended up by the close of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, there may still be room for a familiar face to pop up, even without Gunn directly involved. It's hard to imagine Disney and Marvel Studios steering clear of the Guardians altogether as the MCU's cosmic corner keeps expanding (eventually) with Nova.
Everything We Know About The Nova Series
Despite such a long road to production, Waldron being out of the picture doesn't mean Nova is dead. Unfortunately, Nova is believed to be shelved, possibly being reimagined as a feature film, but in general, still in the early stages of putting together a fleshed-out vision.
Before that pause, the series had already changed hands more than once. Sabir Pirzada wrote an early version back in 2022, and Ed Bernero signed on as showrunner in late 2024. Reports at the time pointed to a story built around Richard Rider rebuilding the Nova Corps after Thanos wiped out Xandar (which happened off-screen prior to the events of Avengers: Infinity War).
With a new writer still needed, it seems, Nova looks more like a Phase 7 project than anything else, joining a very short list of titles Marvel Studios has actually locked in for that stretch of the MCU. Thus far, films like X-Men and Black Panther 3 are expected to release after Avengers: Secret Wars, a soft reboot of the MCU.
From a Marvel Television perspective, Wonder Man Season 2 will also likely be set after the Multiverse Saga concludes.
That likely pushes a Disney+ debut to 2028 or 2029 at the earliest, once Avengers: Secret Wars closes out the Multiverse Saga and the next era of the franchise gets underway.
Whatever happens next, the demand has been there for years. It's a little surprising Nova didn't make the cut during Marvel Studios' flood of Disney+ shows throughout the 2020s (15 total live-action seasons).
It's just as surprising Richard Rider hasn't turned up anywhere else first. The MCU likes the method of planting a hero in someone else's story before handing them the spotlight; in this case, a Guardians of the Galaxy movie or something like The Marvels could have worked nicely.
Sadly, for plenty of space-centric Marvel fans, Nova remains on the shelf until further notice. Maybe after this update from Marvel Studios, more official updates could be made in the future. San Diego Comic-Con is a great place to start setting expectations for Phase 7.
