AdapNation: Nova

In which I make the case for film and TV adaptations, sequels and remakes.

Contrary to popular belief, Marvel hasn't exhausted their bullpen of heroes quite yet.  Even after their ambitious Phase 3 lineup, there are still plenty of untapped franchises waiting for their chance to shine.  The most obvious and exciting of these is Nova.

That's right.  The Nova Corps - the buzz-kills from Guardians of the Galaxy - have their own superheroic champion: Richard Ryder, aka Nova.  And, when all is said and done, he's pretty awesome.

While he unquestionably began as a Marvel-branded attempt to cash in on the popularity of the Green Lantern Corps, there's actually very little tying the two properties together.  While the Green Lanterns use magic rings to create solid light constructs as an act of absolute will and traditionally fight villains who fall along the rest of the emotional spectrum (particularly those representing fear), Nova's power set is far more traditional.  Outside of the "given" superhero power set - super strength / speed / durability, flight and an accelerated healing factor - his only outlying ability it is energy projection (itself not all that uncommon).

His villains, although cosmic, are also more traditional than his DC counterpart.  Some of which - including Thanos and Ronan the Accusor - we've already seen in the MCU.  Others, like Annihilus, we have not.

So why would we want a more generic version of the Green Lantern in Marvel's increasingly crowded movie canon?  What exactly does he bring to the table that other heroes - notably the Guardians of the Galaxy - don't?

The Nova Corps are the perfect foils to the crazy, mostly dysfunctional antics of the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy.  While the Guardians' good deeds seem to be more symptomatic of them not being "100% a dick" than they are of them being upstanding citizens with something to prove, the Nova Corps are more in line with a cosmic Captain America: innately good people wanting to give back to the society that gave them so much in the first place.

Like the Stark-funded Avengers, the Nova have immense resources at their disposal: notably vast, space-faring armadas (seen forming a protective shield over Xandar in Guardians of the Galaxy) and backup in the form of other Nova Corps members.  These aren't everybody's favorite rag-tag band of sometimes do-gooders, these are dedicated, professional heroes who make it their mission to protect Xandar on a daily basis.

It's interesting to note that John C. Reily's character in Guardians of the Galaxy wasn't just some random grunt or officer.  He was playing a very specific Nova Corps member: Rhomnan Dey, the man who transformed Richard Ryder into Nova in the comics.  His relationship with Star Lord revealed an affinity for upstart punks with good hearts, even if they often fell on the wrong side of the law.  And given Star Lord's willingness to call him in his time of need, it paints Dey as a kind of father-figure who believes in the innate goodness of people: in short, exactly the kind of man who would recruit from a species whose only interaction with he's had has been with a known felon.

Look ahead into Phase 3 and what do you see?  Infinity War.  Thanos is collecting the Infinity Stones, one of which we know for a fact is held by the Nova Corps on Xandar.  It's a pretty safe bet that he will devastate the Nova in his quest for the stone in their possession.  After all, how else would he make it to Earth for Vision's Mind Stone?

Do you know how Richard Ryder was selected for the Nova corps to begin with?  Rhomann Dey, the last surviving member of the Nova Corps, bestows his powers to him following the destruction of Xandar.  That sure sounds like what I would expect the planet - and Nova Corps - to look like after Thanos gets through with it.  Infinity War would further provide the perfect opportunity to bring Dey to Earth and introduce Ryder as Nova.

A stand-alone Nova movie could then take on any number of different forms.  It could present Nova as a terrestrial-based hero: sticking around the home front and protecting the Earth from Cosmic threats.  It could also send him to the now-ruined planet of Xandar to help reestablish the Nova Corps as protectors of the greater galaxy.  Hell, if I'm right about the Guardians of the Galaxy's role in Infinity War, he might just up and join them.

By now, it's obvious that Marvel's game plan is to rotate franchises in and out of their cinematic lineup, making sure that no one ever overstays its welcome while creating demand for individual franchises that might not have been seen for a while.  Accidentally or not, that's why people are demanding another Hulk movie despite the first's milder than expected reception.

Nova would be a great cosmic alternate - or even companion franchise - for Guardians of the Galaxy, whose unprecedented popularity proved that there's a strong demand for something a bit more "out there" in the MCU.  And with Disney running the show, I can't see Marvel just leaving money on the table like this, at least for too long.

So what other franchises should Marvel explore in Phase 4 and beyond?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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