Michael Waldron Confirms Nova’s MCU Movie Will Center on Richard Rider

Marvel’s cosmic corner of its cinematic universe has expanded steadily since Thanos first snapped his fingers, but one long-requested hero has remained frustratingly absent from the screen. Fans have spent years watching Guardians of the Galaxy references pile up without ever getting the character many consider a natural fit for that same corner of the franchise.

That wait finally started showing real signs of movement earlier this year, when reports surfaced that Michael Waldron, best known for creating ‘Loki’ and writing ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,’ had quietly been brought on to develop a Nova project for Marvel Studios. What began as unconfirmed speculation has now received its clearest confirmation yet directly from the writer himself.

Michael Waldron discussed his work on Nova during an interview promoting Season 2 of ‘Chad Powers,’ confirming that Richard Rider will serve as the character’s focus in the upcoming project. He explained that he loves Nova and loves Rich Rider, adding that however Marvel chooses to expand the cosmic side of the MCU going forward will be really cool, according to TheWrap.

When pressed for more specifics, Waldron pointed to the 2006 “Annihilation” comic crossover as an obvious touchstone for anyone adapting the character, while acknowledging just how much history Rider carries across decades of comic storytelling. He noted that figuring out where exactly to begin the character’s story, whether grounded on Earth or already established as part of the Nova Corps in space, may be part of why it’s taken this long to bring him to the screen.

Waldron also touched on one of the more obvious storytelling hurdles facing any Nova project moving forward. Asked whether the film would need to address the Nova Corps being wiped out during ‘Avengers: Infinity War,’ Waldron confirmed that whoever takes on the character will indeed have to reckon with that history.

That acknowledgment suggests any new Nova story will need to directly confront the fallout from Thanos’ actions rather than simply ignoring it, adding another layer of narrative complexity to an already long-gestating project. Given how significant the Nova Corps’ destruction was within the broader Guardians of the Galaxy storyline, addressing it head-on seems like the only realistic path forward.

Beyond Nova, Waldron is also attached to write both ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars,’ positioning him as one of the most central creative voices shaping Marvel’s next several years of output. That level of involvement across multiple major projects suggests Marvel Studios has significant confidence in his ability to juggle interconnected storylines across the franchise’s expanding cosmic and Earth-based narratives.

Waldron’s Nova comments arrived while he was primarily discussing his other current project, Season 2 of Hulu’s ‘Chad Powers,’ which he co-created alongside Glen Powell. That interview context suggests these Marvel comments came somewhat organically rather than as part of a dedicated Nova promotional push, adding a layer of candor to his remarks about the character.

Development on Nova reportedly shifted at some point from a streaming series format toward a feature film, with earlier writer Sabir Pirzada’s series concept ultimately being shelved in favor of Waldron’s new pitch. Kevin Feige had previously confirmed back in 2024 that a Nova project was in the works, though details about format and timeline have continued evolving since then.

With Waldron now juggling Nova alongside two major Avengers films, fans finally have concrete confirmation of which version of the character will anchor his long-awaited MCU debut. Given how much cosmic mythology Marvel has built out through other franchises, Richard Rider’s eventual arrival carries the potential to tie several of those threads together in a meaningful way.

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