The MCU’s Latest Series Announcement Already Contradicts Disney’s New Marvel Release Strategy

Marvel recently announced that they were starting the early development stages for a Nova project, which is exciting, but also seems to contradict recent news about the direction of the MCU. Following the disappointing box office for The Marvels, Disney CEO Bob Iger made comments about the MCU’s future that hinted at big changes. He later addressed the issue again, seemingly doubling down on his initial plan.

While it seemed like Iger’s influence was going to push the franchise in a new direction, news of the MCU’s Nova project seemingly contradicts his initially stated plan. This calls into question how strictly Marvel will be abiding by Iger’s comments, or if there is some flexibility in Disney’s stated goals for the future of the MCU.

Disney’s Latest Marvel Comments Promised A Focus On Sequels & Established Characters

Bob Iger Specifically Mentioned Captain America And The Fantastic Four As Examples

When discussing the future of the MCU on an earnings call, Bob Iger said that the MCU would be refocusing on sequels for existing MCU characters and projects for widely recognizable characters like The Fantastic Four. This seemed to indicate that Marvel would be straying away from introducing new characters in their own solo projects. This also made it seem as though Disney didn’t want to take risks like Guardians of the Galaxy or Eternals.

Shortly after this initial call, Iger seemed to double down on his comments about the MCU at a speaking engagement. The Disney CEO’s MCU update even included mention of the fact that Marvel had quietly canceled some of the projects they had been previously looking at. As one of the less recognizable names on the list of announced projects, Nova’s untitled project seemed to be an easy choice for Marvel to have canceled in favor of more marketable characters like Ironheart, given her connection to Iron Man.

Nova Doesn’t Seem To Fit Into Disney’s Marvel Plan

Marvel’s Nova Project Is Not A Direct Sequel To Any Movie

Though the Nova Corps has been established in the MCU, they were mostly supporting characters for the Guardians of the Galaxy. Had Avengers: Infinity War not cut Thanos’ attack on Xandar, the Nova Corps may have been a dangling plot thread that Marvel’s Nova could have picked up. As is, their removal from the movie would have been another point in favor of Nova being the unnamed canceled Marvel project.

Apart from not being a firmly established MCU hero, Nova is also not a widely recognizable name. Though fans of Marvel Comics will recognize the hero’s name and design, Nova has never been as well known as someone like Spider-Man or Captain America. The announcement of a Nova project therefore seems to go against Disney’s original plan for the MCU’s future. While this seems to contradict Disney’s plan, there may be a way for Nova to still fit within the parameters that Iger laid out for future Marvel projects.

Nova Might Show Up Before His Series

Black Widow And Hawkeye Were Both Introduced In Other Movies Before Getting Solo Projects

Just because Nova hasn’t appeared in the MCU yet, that doesn’t mean he won’t appear before his solo project. With Nova still in the early stages of development, Marvel has some time to find a project they can include him in before that. This would allow him to be a more well-established hero before getting his own project, making it more of a sequel to whatever Nova previously appeared in. As of now, there are a few Marvel projects that would seemingly be the perfect fit for Nova.

If Marvel is going to be sticking with Richard Rider as Nova, and using his origin from the comics, he will start on Earth. While this opens him up to interact with pretty much any MCU hero, it would make sense to still keep some connection to the cosmic side of Marvel. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 already confirmed that Star-Lord will be returning to the MCU, and since Peter is currently on Earth, he seems like a good character to pair Nova with, since he has had dealings with the Nova Corps in the past.

Alternatively, Marvel could decide they want to go with the Sam Alexander version of Nova. Sam Alexander brought Nova back to his origins as a teen superhero and has been a part of several young hero teams in Marvel Comics. This would make him a perfect fit for the MCU’s Young Avengers project, which was teased in The Marvels’ post-credits scene. Nova being introduced in a big crossover movie would then make his solo project seem more in line with Disney’s plan to stick with established characters.