With less than a week to go before Moon Knight drops on Disney+, where viewers will find out exactly why Oscar Isaac’s Steven Grant is unable to tell the difference between his “wakin’ loif… an’ dreemz”, it seems Marvel boss Kevin Feige is feeling good about the work behind that show. According to Deadline, the powers that be have chosen Moon Knight writers room regular Sabir Pirzada to develop a project that will bring deep-cut Marvel comics hero Nova into the MCU.
Nova, whose real name is Richard Rider, made his Marvel debut in a 1976 issue of Super Adventures. Gifted with super strength, resistance to injury, and the ability to fly after being plucked from Earth at random as a teen, Rider is a member of the Nova Corps, the intergalactic police force of Xandar (a place Guardians Of The Galaxy fans will be familiar with). Cocksure and quick with a quip in the heat of battle, the young hero was creator Marv Wolfman’s way of paying tribute to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Spider-Man, which should give you some idea of what to expect when he eventually arrives in the MCU.
We don’t yet know Feige’s plans for Nova, as the man in the cap is keeping characteristically tight-lipped – we don’t even know whether this will take shape as a film or a TV show. But with Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn set to star in upcoming series Secret Invasion – loosely adapting an arc that just so happens to prominently feature Rider – could Nova make a surprise debut there? We’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, Moon Knight starts streaming on Disney+ on 30 March, with Sam Raimi’s multiversal Doctor Strange sequel and Kamala Khan’s MCU debut in Ms. Marvel both following closely after. Marvel-ous stuff!