Some of the longest-standing rumors about the plot of Daredevil: Born Againcenter on Wilson Fisk running for and becoming the Mayor of New York City. Additionally, a hefty part of Fisk’s campaign was rumored to revolve around an anti-vigilante initiative, set to clean up the streets. That would mean characters like The Punisher, Daredevil and, yes, Spider-Man, find themselves on the wrong side of Fisk’s agenda in Daredevil: Born Again. A closer look at some details from videos and photos from last night’s Brooklyn set seem to confirm all of the above.
Set photos of Jeremy Earl’s character, reportedly Cole North, showed him sporting not only a Punisher logo on his tactical gear but also some small patches on his sleeves. Upon closer inspection, those patches indicate that North and other personnel on the set are part of Mayor Fisk’s Anti-Vigilante Task Force.
🚨 NEW
Daredevil born again photos reveal an Anti-vigilante Task force provided by Mayor Fisk pic.twitter.com/LuXst7QZI0
— Best of Daredevil cast (@ddcastarchive) April 3, 2024
That means it is almost a certainty that Daredevil and Punisher find themselves under fire from the Anti-Vigilante Task Force in the video from the same set. Given how long the series has been back in production, it’s possible that this is footage from the finale of Season 1, Part 1 which could end with the heroes in a bit of a pickle and with Mayor Fisk looking every bit the hero for “cleaning up the streets of New York.” In the comics, Fisk used a new iteration of the Thunderbolts as his task force; it looks as though the version set to be seen in Daredevil: Born Again may be a bit more mundane.
Daredevil: Born Again is currently in production and has no release date.
After a bit of a hiatus from filming in public, production on Daredevil: Born Again has returned to the streets of Brooklyn. Getting back on the streets of New York City means that there are plenty of cameras ready to capture the behind-the-scenes action and a recent scene provided plenty of that. In addition to the return of Jon Bernthal fully decked out as The Punisher and working alongside Daredevil, Splash News shared some photos of actor Jeremy Earl as a character who was previously not revealed to be part of the series.
In a pair of photos from the Brooklyn set, Earl (Chicago P.D.) is seen on set and is reportedly playing Cole North.
In the pages of Marvel Comics, North is an NYPD Detective who first appeared in 2019 during Chip Zdarsky’sDaredevil run. Originally introduced as an antagonist to Daredevil and part of Mayor Wilson Fisk’s anti-vigilante task force, North ultimately became an ally to The Man Without Fear…but only after shooting him.
If that same arc is planned for him in Daredevil: Born Again, it’ll be interesting to see how he gets there. Long-standing rumors about the series indicated that Frank Castle’s arc in the series would include him going up against dirty cops who had co-opted The Punisher logo, which Earl’s character is sporting in the set photos. Should North end up as an ally to Daredevil, he’ll first have to survive his interaction with Frank, who is rumored to be none-too-pleased about the type of officers who are using his logo.
Daredevil: Born Again is currently in production. No official word has been given about its release.
With Jon Bernthal recently spotted on the New York City set of Daredevil: Born Again, it was only a matter of time before he was caught in action as Frank Castle. That time has come and not only has Bernthal been photographed fully decked out as The Punisher, he’s also in action with his old friend Matt Murdock!
Courtesy of Splash News come a couple of new behind-the-scenes looks at filming on the streets of Brooklyn. The first shows a bloody Castle complete with his Punisher logo front and center on his tactical gear.
Next, an interesting set video shows Castle and a suited-up Matt Murdock working together. While the context of the video isn’t entirely clear, it seems as though the duo may be under fire both from rifles and some sort of sonic emitter. That sort of weapon would be the type of thing deployed against Daredevil only by someone who was aware of his uniquely keen senses.
Filming on what is believed to be the first part of Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again has been back underway in New York City for some time and, as expected, has produced quite a few looks at what to expect from the series. As of now, there’s been no word from Disney as to when to expect it to hit Disney Plus; however, before strikes stopped production last Summer, it was slated to release in early 2025.
Like its predecessor, X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ’97 will likely never be criticized for moving too slowly. The original Fox series often moved quickly through popular arcs lifted from Chris Claremont‘s Uncanny X-Men and the third episode in ’97 followed suit in its adaptation of Inferno.
Published in 1989, Inferno was a line-wide crossover event for Marvel Comics. Told throughout more than 30 issues of mutant (Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, New Mutants, X-Terminators and Excalibur) and non-mutant (Avengers, Cloak and Dagger, Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Power Pack and 3 different Spider-Man books) titles, Inferno focused on Illyana Rasputin’s transformation into the Darkchylde and the origin story of the Goblin Queen, Madelyne Pryor.
For “Fire Made Flesh”, X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo opted to do quite a bit of trimming and use the episode to resolve the clone Jean story while also setting Bishop and Nathan Summers on their path to a dark future. However, the final scene of the episode, which was set entirely apart from the main event, hints at another classic Claremont arc being adapted beginning with Episode 4.
After losing her powers and setting out on her own at the end of “Mutant Liberation Begins”, Storm finds herself alone in Tequila Mockingbird, a dive bar somewhere in Texas. As the Weather Witch watches the weather report, a slim and sharply mustachioed stranger approaches her and introduces himself as Forge, “an old friend of Charles Xavier.” Indeed Forge appeared in 10 episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series, half of which involved the wonderful timey-wimey stuff that is part and parcel of the X-Men experience. However, the timing of his latest appearance suggests that he’ll have an all-new, all-different role in X-Men ’97 that will be based on Claremont’s run on Uncanny.
It’s no secret that Storm was one of Claremont’s favorite characters. Claremont was the first writer to recognize her true potential and begin developing her as a character. Much like in “Mutant Liberation Begins”, Storm lost her mutant powers after having been shot with a Neutralizer. In Uncanny X-Men #186, Storm began working with Forge to recover and, in the process, fell in love with the alpha-level technopath. Titled Lifedeath, the issue and and its follow-ups are well-revered as one of the great love stories in the pages of the X-Men’s extensive history. For those peeking ahead, Episode 4 of X-Men ’97 is titled “Motendo/Lifedeath-Part 1.” Yeah, the next episode is going to include Mojo but did you know it’s also going to explore one of the more intimate stories ever told about Storm?
While even those with passing knowledge of the comics know that Ororo was once married to T’Challa and was the Queen of Wakanda; however, few know about her romance with Forge. Fewer yet know that Forge, the mutant Maker, designed the Neutralizer that robbed the goddess of her powers. Given the raging popularity of X-Men ’97, it seems as though a whole new generation of people are about to find out and begin to understand why legions of ’90s kids adore Storm. Outside of Logan and Jean Grey, not many mutants have undergone the type of emotional development in the pages of Marvel Comics as Ororo has. Given Episode 4 is only Part 1 of Lifedeath, it seems as though DeMayo and crew intend to go against the X-Men: TAS grain to take their time and give the goddess her just desserts.
Star Wars hasn’t always provided room to explore the grey areas of morality. Good is good. Bad is bad. Of course, that’s almost entirely driven by the binary nature of the Force. The Light is good; the Dark is bad. Jedi or Sith. While there’s room for redemption within George Lucas‘ original trilogy, “classic Star Wars” storytelling left no room for Force wielders who were neither Jedi nor Sith. Modern Star Wars storytelling, on the other hand, has found plenty of narrative space for characters who find no use for either Sith or Jedi. Following the collapse of the Republic, Ahsoka Tano and Baylan Skoll no longer consider themselves Jedi and Ahsoka’s good friend Ezra Bridger dabbled in the Dark Side without becoming permanently corrupted. Their journeys through the Force are a natural consequence of new stories being built on the foundation of Lucas’ stories. Modern Star Wars has expanded the scope of Force users beyond Jedi and Sith, including the exploration of other aspects of it and how it’s perceived and wielded by those outside of the binary constraints, such as the Nightsisters. Interestingly enough, there’s one character who has traveled all the paths described above, and in Episode 9 of Season 3 of The Bad Batch, her return antecedes the next round of chaos headed the way of Clone Force 99.
As many fans presumed to be the case, Asajj Ventress is indeed the friend Fennec Shand turned to for information about M-count and, as the episode’s title, “Harbinger”, indicates, her arrival portends dark days for the Batchers. For fans who know Ventress only from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the Dathomirian Nightsister who was once both a Jedi Padawan and a Sith apprentice seems like the last person anyone would turn to for help; however, after having been a pawn for others, Ventress walks a different path now: her own. And make no mistake, her meeting with Uhmeeguh falls under the category of one of Star Wars most thoroughly explored themes: destiny.
Remember… you always have a choice to be better. You always have a choice to… to pick the right path. Even if that choice comes a little late.
Explored in the canon novel Dark Disciple, Ventress began her ascent from darkness after teaming with Jedi Quinlan Vos to attempt to assassinate Count Dooku. Though it was believed she died while sacrificing herself to save Vos, the trailer for The Bad Batch made it clear that Lucasfilm saw further storytelling currency in Ventress and in “The Harbinger”, head writer Jennifer Corbett seemed to hint at just what that might be. After revealing the meaning of M-count to Clone Force 99 and realizing what danger lurks for Uhmeeguh and her presumably high Midi-chlorian count, Ventress agrees to test the clone’s abilities with the Force. While Uhmeeguh’s potential to wield the Force isn’t made clear to viewers, what is made clear is that Ventress can sense both her latent potential to use the Force and the danger in which it puts her. Though she skitters off at the end of the episode, it seems highly unlikely this is the last time Ventress and Omega meet. In fact, it might just be the start of one of the most unlikely relationships ever to unfold in the galaxy far, far away.
Ventress has seen and done it all. She’s walked the path of light and descended into darkness but now, by her own omission, she walks her own path and it almost certainly is shaded grey. Given the totality of her own experiences, it’s almost impossible for it not to be. And what she sees in Omega is someone who, like her, whose life is being controlled by everyone but her…and it’s at least worth wondering if Ventress means to stop that and give Omega agency moving forward. Ventress mentions training Uhmeeguh during the episode and it would seem that might at least one possible option for what happens to the young clone (she’s somewhere between 12 and 14 years old during Season 3). While it’s known that Project Necromancer is ultimately at least sort of successful (Sleepy Sheev does inhabit a clone body in The Rise of Skywalker but it’s certainly no masterpiece) it doesn’t mean Omega has to die. The Bad Batch producer Brad Rau has teased the potential for more adventures with Ventress down the road and given Dave Filoni’s fascination for bringing animated characters into live-action, any number of possibilities exist including Ventress and Omega still being alive and well during the New Republic era. The producers once explored the possibility of using Ventress in Star Wars Resistance which is set long after The Mandalorian and, as the Nighsister said, she has a few lives left. Star Wars loves destiny; Star Wars loves to tell master and apprentice stories; and it’s starting to show some love to those who live in the grey which gives plenty of room for the continuing story of Asajj Ventress…and maybe Uhmeeguh.
Though no release date has been revealed yet, Eyes of Wakanda has already caught the attention of fans. First announced at the What If…? Season 2 premiere, the animated series produced by Ryan Coogler will tell the story of “brave warriors” who “throughout Wakandan history have been tasked to travel the world retrieving dangerous vibranium artifacts.” Other than that, little was know about the show but that’s changed now thanks to Marvel exec Brad Winderbaum.
In am interview with Men’s Health, Winderbaum revealed quite a bit of new information about the series, including where it fits into the sometimes confusing Multiversal continuity. According to Winderbaum, Eyes of Wakanda “fits right into our sacred MCU timeline continuity.” Winderbaum also confirmed that the series had been directed by Todd Harris which also seems to have confirmed an interesting rumor about the series.
In 2022, we learned that Harris was creating an animated series about “a secret society of humanoid aliens living on earth dispatches a team of spies across the world to collect a series of missing artifacts that threaten to influence mankind…” and that the series would feature a Mandarin-speaking character named “Jin.” The strong similarities between the official description ofEyes of Wakanda and the original description of Harris‘ show are obvious and further information about Jin seems to mesh nicely with a very interesting rumor about Eyes of Wakanda.
Scooper CWGST shared a rumor that Eyes of Wakanda would introduce an Iron Fist by the name of Janora, an original character created just for the show, who would be working with a Wakanda named Basha. This lines up nicely with the information we shared in 2022 that indicated “Jin” was a “Chinese warrior” and “perhaps the best trained martial artist in the world.” Her story begins, it seems, when another character named “Bosco” steals one of the series’ MacGuffin artifacts. Connect the dots and it sounds like Basha may head to K’un Lun to retrieve some type of Vibranium artifact and then find himself at odds with Janora.
Though we can’t confirm the connection, combined with our old Connecting Imaginary Dots piece,the new information seems to support the rumor that Eyes of Wakanda will feature an Iron Fist. Should it all work out, that Iron Fist will show up in the third episode of the series, as per the original information. Either way, it sounds like Eyes of Wakanda is lining up to be a blast!
The first trailer for Lucasfilm’s upcoming Star Wars streaming series, The Acolyte, has put up some eye-popping numbers, tallying over 53 million views in its first 24 hours online, a record for a Star Wars Disney Plus series. The Acolyte will be the first live-action series set during the High Republic era and will introduce audiences to an entirely new cast of characters. That’s not to say there won’t be some winks and nods to the Skywalker Saga but more than any other project so far, The Acolyte seems poised to stand on its own merits, taking place roughly a century before the events of The Phantom Menace.
Series creator Leslye Headland was given a unique opportunity to shape the tail end of the era that precedes the Fall of the Jedi and if the trailer is a fair representation of the series, it seems she’s populated it with some interesting new characters. One such original character that has caught the attention of many is Jodie Turner-Smith‘s Mother Aniseya. Described by StarWars.com as “the leader of a coven of Witches who value their independence and the preservation of their beliefs and powers,” Aniseya’s role in the series has largely been kept secret. Who is Mother Aniseya and what ties might she have to pre-existing Star Wars canon? While we can’t supply any certain answers, we have a few ideas about the character’s true nature.
Though The Acolyte will be the first live-action depiction of the High Republic era, spanning from roughly 500 BBY until 82 BBY, Lucasfilm has already done a great deal of table setting through its publishing initiative. Through novels and comic books published by Marvel and Dark Horse, the glory days of the Republic and its expansion into the Outer Rim, have been chronicled to some extent. The Acolyte is set toward the end of the High Republic and the markers we do have for it would suggest it takes place around 132 BBY. For reference, Yoda would be 764 years old at that time and Sleepy Sheev Palpatine won’t be born for another 48 years. This time is truly a blank slate in terms of narrative possibilities…but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of possible connections to events, people and places that existed both before and after 132 BBY.
The most intriguing revelation about Turner-Smith’s character is that she bears the title of Mother. Revealing Aniseya as a Mother and the leader of a coven of witches seems like an almost intentional nod to the Nighsisters of Dathomir; however, given what’s known about the Nightsisters, it seems unlikely that Aniseya is that kind of witch. Of course, the Nightsisters weren’t the only clan of witches native to Dathomir which allows for the potential that Aniseya may be the Mother of one of the similarly force-sensitive clans. The Blue Coral Diver Clan, the Singing Mountain Clan and the Howling Crag Clan have all been written into canon without any significant backstories. Aniseya may be the Mother of a witch coven from one of these clans that relocated from Dathomir sometime after its colonization.
Clues to another (and perhaps more intriguing) possibility could be found in the pages of a novel and comic books from Phase II of The High Republic publishing initiative. Set roughly 350 years before The Acolyte, the Phase II novel The High Republic: Path of Deceit introduces a group called the Path of the Open Hand. A cult whose members “believe the Force is owned by no one, and not to be wielded in the manner of the Jedi Order,” the Open Hand was led by Elecia Zeveron, known as “The Mother.” Zeveron taught her extremists that the use of the Force by the Jedi was responsible for death across the galaxy. Though they were defeated by the Jedi during a battle known as the Night of Sorrows, remnants of the Path founded both the Nihil and an offshoot known as the Elders of the Path.
The Nihil were one of the great threats to the Jedi during the High Republic era but were no longer at the height of their power by 200 BBY. Though they still existed until after the Battle of Yavin, they wouldn’t pose much of a threat by 132 BBY and nothing in the trailer for The Acolyte hints at their inclusion. The Elders of the Path, however, do have some interesting connections to what’s known about The Acolyte. One of the core beliefs of the Elders of the Path is that the Force should not be used but rather appreciated at a distance, something the elders of the group teach their students, known as…acolytes. This belief is at least partially reflected in Aniseya’s words in the trailer when she explains that whatever it is she’s being questioned about, likely by the group of Jedi she’s seen interacting with,“isn’t about good or bad. This is about power, and who is allowed to use it.”
Still, Ainseya remains almost completely shrouded in mystery. If Turner-Smith is to be believed, the character is no Jedi and she has no narrative ties to Amandla Stenberg‘s Mae, which probably means she’s also not a Sith. However, Turner-Smith has revealed that her character does weild the Force which puts her at least partially at odds with the the original doctrine of the Path. So while Aniseya may not be an Elder, there’s plenty of room for a branch of a cult to branch out further and for Mother Aniseya to pick up the mission of Order of the Path to free the Force from the Jedi. Of course, as is true any time one travels too far down the rabbit hole of speculation, one likely wanders further from the truth than intended and so it’s much more likely that Aniseya’s true nature is something far different than any of the guesses laid out above. Either way, there’s still quite some time before we find out as The Acolyte doesn’t hit Disney Plus until June 4th.
In Star Wars: The Acolyte, an investigation into a shocking crime spree pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems….
The series stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie TurnerSmith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss.
Leslye Headland created the series, based on Star Wars by George Lucas, and serves as an executive producer along with Kathleen Kennedy, Simon Emanuel, Jeff F. King and Jason Micallef. Charmaine DeGraté and Kor Adana are the co-executive producers. Rayne Roberts, Damian Anderson, Eileen Shim and Rob Bredow are the producers.
Headland also directed the premiere episodes (Eps. 101 & 102). Directors Kogonada (Eps. 103 & 107), Alex Garcia Lopez (Eps. 104 & 105) and Hanelle Culpepper (Eps. 106 & 108) round out the directing duties on the series.
Award-winning composer Michael Abels, known for his work on Get Out and Us, scored Star Wars: The Acolyte.
It’s been said that nostalgia is a hell of a drug. The sentimental longing for an overidealized past can all but rewrite reality within our minds, amplifying our perception of the emotional impact of past experiences and manifesting something that never truly existed in the way we remember it. It’s a road we’ve all traveled and the longer we stay on it, the further we get from the true nature of the original experience. Unlike fortune, nostalgia’s no fickle wench: it provides exactly what we want it to every time.
Revisiting that imaginary hallowed ground simply reinforces whatever good feeling we’re searching for and is the source of every grumpy old man telling a young buck that “they don’t make them like they used to.” However, as it turns out, they do indeed make them like they used to and, every so often, even better. Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97 stands as an exemplar of how studios can revisit known and even beloved quantities while finding something that may not have been there originally. Whether you grew up with X-Men: The Animated Series or have never seen an episode of the ’90s classic, X-Men ’97 is about to become your favorite Saturday morning cartoon.
Give Marvel Studios mad props. They smartly leaned heavily into ’90s nostalgia in promoting X-Men ’97, adeptly using the dope theme song from X-Men: The Animated Series and some sweet old-school posters to provide O.G. fans with a phat dopamine rush that reminded them just how off the hook chillin’ on Saturday mornings used to be. Back in the day, X-Men: The Animated Series was the bomb…or was it? Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.
For a nearly unquantifiable portion of a generation, X-Men: The Animated Series was the gateway drug into the uncanny world of mutant heroes and villains created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Over 76 episodes, the series–heavily inspired by Chris Claremont’s work with the characters in the pages of Marvel Comics–became a frenetic highlight reel of the X-Men’s greatest hits. Without ever reading an X-Men comic, fans of the show could name a dozen X-Men, define an Omega mutant and summarize some of Marvel Comics’ greatest X-Men runs. Just as Claremont’s life-saving run on the Uncanny X-Men concluded, X-Men: The Animated Series cemented the characters in the era’s zeitgeist. The serendipitous multimedia symbiosis of page and animation no doubt led Fox to the inevitable conclusion that the X-Men would be a hit on the big screen and thus, the X-Men became embedded in pop culture, where they have firmly remained over 30 years later. But if the first three episodes of X-Men ’97 reveal anything, they reveal just how weak our minds can be when challenged by the nostalgia for better days.
If you believe yourself a fan of X-Men: The Animated Series, challenge yourself to a modern-day rewatch. Unlike the finest of wines, the series struggles to mature with its audience, limited not only by the technology of its time but also by the sensibilities of an era gone by. And that’s just fine and totally fair…however, as Marvel Animation rolls out a brand new series set in that bygone era, it absolutely needs to be fit enough to survive the onslaught of modern fans. Showrunner Beau DeMayo aggressively relieves the evolutionary force of selective pressure by slightly changing the DNA of the series to favorably adapt to the modern environment in which it will be judged. What emerges is a new generation more fit than its predecessor on nearly every measurable standard.
X-Men ’97 veraciously maintains the feverish pace of its progenitor. The first three episodes of the season cover more than 20 issues of Claremont’s run on Uncanny and resolve an eight-month line-wide comic run in 30 minutes. However, it’s here where a reflective member of the audience should stop, drop and roll back into common sense: regardless of your modern sensibilities, X-Men: The Animated Series was created to entertain children. In this sense, compared to offerings such as Teen Titans Go!, X-Men ’97 is much more Hawthorne than Hemingway.
The first three episodes offer plenty of rawhide upon which to chew. Is Marvel Animation starting up its own connected universe? The Daily Bugle provides plenty of opportunities to believe so. Despite the statement that X-Men ’97 is doing its own thing, does the appearance of WHiH News portend some connection to the live-action MCU and the Multiverse Saga? When dealing with the timey-wimey concepts that are part and parcel of the X-Men, could the crazy sumbitches at Marvel Studios be planning to capitalize on nostalgia in a way ’90s kids could never have dreamt of by bringing the team that brought X-Men into pop culture back into pop culture in an all-new, all-different millennium?
As of March 2024, there are no answers to those questions; however, in an ever-expanding wilderness of superhero projects, the fitness of X-Men ’97 is not dependent on the audience’s familiarity with the MCU. Should you have watched all 76 episodes of X-Men: The Animated Series once, twice or nonce, you’ll find yourself fully engaged in the story of Cyclops, Jean and the team as they learn to move forward in the absence of Charles Xavier who, by the way, “died” in Season 5, Episode 10 of X-Men: The Animated Series which aired in 1996. Yet somehow, some way, DeMayo and his writers’ room have found common ground for those who saw Charles “die” with those who only know who Charles is from Logan or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. As Marvel Studios rightfully finds itself under fire, X-Men ’97 could ironically raise the roof of what fans consider as the shit while still being enjoyable for trifling busters.
As Obi-Wan Kenobi told Luke Skywalker, before the formation of the Empire, the Jedi Knights served as the “guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic” for “over a thousand generations.” While the order ultimately fell apart, they had a great run but fans of the galaxy far, far away have never seen them at their peak.
While the prequels at least showed the order intact and in action, their hubris has already cemented their downfall. What’s been seen onscreen so far, in both films and series, is an order far removed from the glory days of the Jedi, which is why there’s been some serious excitement brewing around Lucasfilm’s latest D+ streaming series, The Acolyte. For the first time, fans will see the order outside of the Skywalker Saga timeline, providing some interesting opportunities to compare and contrast.
Set in the High Republic era 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, The Acolyte will center around an investigation into a shocking crime spree which pits a respected Jedi Master against a dangerous warrior from his past. As more clues emerge, they travel down a dark path where sinister forces reveal all is not what it seems.
Disney revealed the first look at the new series today, providing the first ever live-action glimpse at the shape of the galaxy during the High Republic.
Created by Leslye Headland, The Acolyte stars Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Rebecca Henderson, Dean-Charles Chapman, Joonas Suotamo, and Carrie-Anne Moss. The series is set to debut on Disney Plus with two-episoses streaming on June 4th.
In 2014, the Nova Corps were introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy. Operating from the planet Xandar, the MCU’s Corps worked as space cops and ultimately stored the Power Stone in their HQ. Though the fate of the Corps and the planet is unknown, Thanos was able to get his hands on the stone so it’s unlikely it was a happy ending. At the time Avengers: Infinity War premiered in 2018, Marvel Studios One Above All, Kevin Feige, told Comic Book that the Nova Corps most powerful hero, known as Nova, was one of a handful of Marvel characters who had “immediate potential” in terms of joining the MCU. Nearly 6 years later, the character still hasn’t joined the fray and some new comments from one of the MCU’s top dogs indicate he’s likely not going to enter the mix for some time.
In a new interview with Comic Book, Marvel’s head of streaming, animation, and television Brad Winderbaum confirmed the incredibly well-known and widely-reported fact that a Nova project was in development at Marvel Studios before gently letting on that it’s not going to be something fans will see any time soon.
“We have a new system behind-the-scenes at Marvel Studios,” Winderbaum said. “We’re more like a traditional studio now. We’re developing more than we actually will produce. There are plans to develop Nova. I love Nova, too. I love Rich Rider, too. I hope it gets to the screen. The world is always chaos. There’s always things. You gotta conjure these things to make them happen but I would love to see a Nova show, one day.”
Taken in their totality, Winderbaum’s response to the question about the status of a Nova project could hardly be regarded as optimistic. The studio is cutting back on new projects and focusing more on “sure things” and producing more projects within currently existing and successful franchises. Given that it’s been a decade since the Nova Corps made an impact in an MCU film, it’s possible Richard Rider’s time to shine has come and gone without so much as a cameo, Easter egg or wasted post-credit scene and whatever “immediate potential” he had in 2018 has waned. For now, it seems all fans of the character have is just a series of bad fan fiction about how the character could have joined the MCU in a genuinely organic way.
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