More good news may be on the horizon for Marvel’s Nova, as it seems the Disney+ series in development is adapting the stellar comics event, Annihilation.
Update: Nova now has a showrunner.
I saw it all coming
Cosmic Book News can actually trace its roots back to Annihilation, the Marvel Cosmic event from 2005/2006 created by the late Keith Giffen. Long story short, my favorite character, Wendell Vaughn Quasar, was killed off and replaced with an alien lesbian clone. To make that work, they had to completely change everything about “Quasar.”
That’s why I was the first, and this put me ahead of the curve when it came to how the woke content would destroy the industry. I was also ahead of ComicsGate. COSMICGate came first. Marvel started this garbage with its Marvel Cosmic brand, and the rest followed. I saw what was happening and predicted what would happen—and I was exactly right.
When Marvel cared about the fans
Back then, it was a different time (pre-Disney), and Marvel respected its fans. Like-minded Quasar fans and I petitioned Marvel to bring back Wendell Vaughn as Quasar. We even sent the Marvel Comics offices the legendary “Bring Back Wendell” cake (pictured above). I started a “Bring Back Wendell” website, we submitted real petitions with signatures to Marvel, sent fan art, and I gave everyone who signed the petition a “Bring Back Wendell” T-shirt (I still have mine!).
We first gathered on the now-defunct Comic Book Resources (CBR) Annihilation boards and the QuantumZone.org forums. After CBR shut down the Annihilation boards, I created my own forums, which became Cosmic Book News.
Marvel Comics Editor Bill Rosemann, who took over Marvel Cosmic, embraced us “rabid” fans, as he called us. Under Rosemann’s and writer Dan Abnett’s leadership, Wendell Vaughn returned as Quasar, and I helped promote Marvel’s Cosmic titles like Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy—long before anyone had heard of James Gunn’s movies. We even launched the “Going Knowhere” podcast.
At the time, Marvel Comics was run by Joe Quesada, who didn’t care much for Marvel Cosmic. His only concern was sales: if it sold, it stayed; if it didn’t, it got canceled. So, I promoted Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy like crazy, and the Cosmic titles defied the trend of declining issue sales that led to cancellations (unlike the many failed relaunches of Captain Marvel or Ms. Marvel). Per Rosemann, Marvel Cosmic—now spearheaded by Dan Abnett—achieved “rock solid” sales.
Disney, Gunn, MCU changed it all
Eventually, Marvel canceled it all and relaunched the Marvel Cosmic line to match Gunn’s goofy take on the characters in the MCU. Quesada confirmed it wasn’t due to poor sales (but to align with the movies).
To this day, many Marvel Cosmic fans argue that adapting the original comics would have made for better films than Gunn’s generic, goofy approach, which ultimately ruined the comics (not directly Gunn’s fault). Now, it seems Gunn is repeating the same formula with his DCU.
Nova series villain rumor
Back to the Nova news: Just as my insiders said, Marvel Studios has fixed and retooled Daredevil: Born Again. As part of this effort, Kevin Feige has completely overhauled Marvel TV following major failures on Disney+, including Secret Invasion.
Brad Winderbaum, who heads Marvel’s Streaming, Television, and Animation division, recently stated that Nova will take a more serious tone. He also confirmed the series is partially inspired by Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica. Those shows aren’t goofy, and neither is Nova. In fact, Guardians of the Galaxy was never goofy in the comics, either.
A new rumor from scooper Daniel RPK suggests that the villain of the Nova series will be Annihilus, the main antagonist of the Annihilation event from the comics.
Dear Marvel: DO NOT adapt anything from the comics post-2010
Annihilus is originally a Fantastic Four villain, with his origins tied to the Negative Zone. Coincidentally, Marvel Studios is releasing the new Fantastic Four movie next year. It’s possible they’re tying everything together, connecting the events at the start of Infinity War to the Fantastic Four movie and the Nova series(and Silver Surfer).
Marvel recently tried something similar in the comics, but it turned out horribly (likely a test run for the MCU projects). Honestly, Marvel Studios should AVOID anything from the comics released after they canceled Nova and Guardians of the Galaxy in 2010. Thanos Imperative is also awesome and Realm of Kings isn’t bad (steer clear of Annihilators, which is terrible and is an allegory for us Marvel Cosmic fans getting kicked in the balls).
That includes NOT using the woke Nova replacement, Sam Alexander. When Marvel canceled the original titles, they replaced Richard Rider with an angsty teen wannabe, and it was a disaster. The Marvel NOW! initiative which Feige adapted for Phase 4 turned out a disaster. To this day, Sam Alexander remains a terrible character in the comics and will continue to remain so simply because the character wasn’t created organically to tell a good story but to sell an agenda. It’ll never work.
It is critical you pay attention at this time
Remember, Marvel pulled the same move with Quasar years earlier, so I knew exactly what they were trying to do. After significant backlash, they brought Richard Rider back, but then attempted a bait-and-switch, using Rider to try to get fans to accept Sam Alexander (from the writer of Quantumania, how’d that work out?). Credit to the fans (though some sold out and still do)—most of us didn’t fall for it.
The MCU should absolutely avoid bringing in the woke Sam Alexander, aka NINO (Nova In Name Only). He’s on the same level as Ms. Marvel. How’d did that work out for the MCU, too???
Yep, we still haven’t forgotten!!!
Kevin Feige! Brad Winderbaum! It is critical you pay attention at this time!!!
