It’s been over a decade since the Nova Corps made their live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with the “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Since then, the respected peacekeeping force has remained on the fringes, never fully explored, and this has kept one of their most well-known members at a distance, too. In Marvel lore, one of the toughest heroes of Nova Corps is Earth-based legend Richard Rider, who joins the space police after the death of Rhomann Dey, played by John C. Reilly in the James Gunn-directed film.
Over the years, talk of a Nova Corp project being in development has been intermittent, with creative duties shifting and development in the character halting altogether earlier this year. Although activity around Nova Corps might have slowed since then, “Loki” writer Michael Waldron has shared his thoughts on who might be a good fit for the role, and he’s chosen the star of his latest project, “Chad Powers,” and upcoming “Running Man,” Glen Powell.
When asked by The Playlist where Powell would best fit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one character quickly came to mind. Waldron told the site, “He’d be a pretty good Nova.” Given the actor’s past work and upcoming projects, it definitely seems like a perfect fit, not only because it would be almost serendipitous for a film Powell loves but also because it would place him in a role very similar to another comic book character fans wished to see him as, but most likely never will.
Nova Corps would allow Glen Powell to become the best Green Lantern we never saw
After Glen Powell managed to do the nearly impossible by stealing the show in “Top Gun: Maverick, the next thing he did was shoot to the top of the fan-casting ranks for DC fans’ dream pick (including ours) as the iteration of Green Lantern, Hal Jordan. Unfortunately, that never came to pass, given that plans were in place for a more seasoned space cop with Kyle Chandler in HBO’s upcoming series, “Lanterns.” Wouldn’t it be a fitting direction to take, then, to instead have Powell take on the role that’s essentially Marvel’s answer to Hal Jordan, in Richard Rider?
No matter what kind of intergalactic space force he’s aligned with, it feels like Powell could fit the job description, and that could include being one of the last members of the Nova Corps (given that their home base of Xandar was destroyed by Thanos off-screen before the events of “Avengers: Infinity War”). As it stands, Powell has remained impartial about which comic book universe he’d like to appear in, telling The Playlist in 2024, “You know I’ve never gotten a call from DC or Marvel, but I’m a fan of everything they do.” One thing he’s openly praised, though, is “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which he argued stopped heroes from “not being brooding or dark” anymore with Star Lord. Perhaps then, Powell could keep the torch burning as a member of the Nova Corps, just as long as he can dance to Rebone as well as Chris Pratt can.
