Update 7/26: Called it: Kevin Feige confirmed the Nova movie at Comic-Con. No casting was announced, so the case below stands.
Now that Nova is officially a Michael Waldron movie he may also direct, there’s one name that makes more sense than anyone else for Richard Rider: Glen Powell.
This isn’t a reach. It’s the most connected set of dots in the entire MCU right now.
Waldron already said it out loud
Back in October, before any of this was official, Waldron went on record saying he wanted to write Nova and that he wanted Glen Powell to play Richard Rider.
At the time it was a fun what-if from a writer who didn’t yet have the job. Deadline now reports Waldron has the job — he’s penning the script and eyeing the director’s chair. The wishlist quote isn’t a quote anymore. It’s the stated preference of the guy who may be running the movie.
They already made a show together
Waldron and Powell co-created Chad Powers for Hulu, and per Deadline, Waldron just wrapped production on its second season, which stars Powell.
So we’re not talking about a writer floating a dream cast he’s never met.
We’re talking about a filmmaker who just spent two seasons building a series around this specific actor, publicly saying he wants that same actor for his Marvel movie.
Creatives cast the people they trust and want to work with again. Waldron has told you exactly who that is.
And Powell actually opens movies
Here’s the part that matters for a theatrical Nova.
The reason the Disney+ version got shelved was budget. Moving it to the big screen means it now has to sell tickets, and Powell is one of the few genuine draws Marvel could plausibly land.
Top Gun: Maverick put him on the map. Anyone But You turned a modest rom-com budget into a $200M-plus global sleeper on star power alone; no franchise, no pre-sold IP, just Powell and Sydney Sweeney.
Twisters cleared $370M worldwide with him fronting it. Hit Man landed with critics.
Over the last four years Powell has done the one thing Marvel needs most right now: put people in seats. For a studio trying to rebuild theatrical muscle, that’s the whole ballgame.
What about Henry Cavill and Timothée Chalamet?
The other names attached to Nova over the years don’t have anything close to this.
IMDb Pro still lists Henry Cavill as “rumored” — a fan-driven listing worth a grain of salt — and Timothée Chalamet was once rumored for a Marvel role thought to be Nova years ago. Neither has a working relationship with the guy writing the script. Powell does.
For the record
Nothing here is a done deal, and the sourcing matters.
Confirmed: the movie exists and Waldron is writing with an eye to directing, per Deadline, five days after the WGA listing I reported tipped everyone off.
On record: Waldron saying he wants Powell, back in October. Everything past that — an actual offer, a deal, Powell’s interest — has not been reported. Deadline stresses the film is still in early development.
But early development is exactly when a writer-director locks the lead he’s been publicly naming since October.
Richard Rider debuted in 1976’s The Man Called Nova #1 from Marv Wolfman and John Buscema, a Long Island teenager who inherits the powers of the intergalactic Nova Corps.
With Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters December 18 and Marvel’s Hall H panel less than two weeks out, don’t be shocked if Nova — and maybe a name attached to it — comes up.
