Guardians of the Galaxy was crazy with Novas: the movie had a Nova Corp and even a Nova Prime, but no actual, you know, Nova. Director and co-writer James Gunn tweaked the concept of the Nova Corps – intergalactic space cops and Marvel’s answer to the Green Lantern Corps in the comics – to something a little more streamlined, but at some point, the studio and director must have been considering adding Nova to the Guardians lineup.
That’s if we’re take this piece of concept art below at face value from the upcoming book Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: The Art of the Movie. The August 12 release reveals this unused Nova concept below, although it remains to be seen if it was a modification of the existing Nova Corps design in the movie or one used specifically for the Nova we’ve all come to know and love from the comics.
If this is a nixed design for Richard Rider, you can understand why the character might not have made it into the movie. Given the already packed cast of Guardians, you can imagine everyone involved having a good think about adding yet one more hero to the roster when the five characters (one of whom is already wearing an intimidating space mask) already featured on the team needed to establish their origins, motivations, and such.
On the other hand, if this was a design for the Nova Corps, I think I can understand why it didn’t make it in: I think not being able to see their faces would have tripped the film up when it came to humanizing John C. Reilly and the other Corps members. This approach would have just made them look like ticked-off space commandos.
The design here seems to shed some of the recent flourishes added to the Nova uniform, notably with its muted colors and more “tactical” (read: “dark”) look of the gold and blue comics counterpart.
It looks a bit like a judge from judge Dredd
You know, this is my #2 hang-up about Guardians; it needed at least a cameo of Nova. Maybe as he was leaving on his way to “Earth” maybe? It was a real letdown and that is why Guardians (for me) was only good…and Not a movie I can recommend to anyone (enemies included).
#1 missed opportunity (for Marvel) and Guardians; where the hell was Adam Warlock. Is Marvel/Disney going to pull the Soul Gem out of it’s proverbial butt for the Infinity Gauntlet? I guess so….but they gave us Howard. How nice.
A cocoon was seen cracked open in the Collector’s base in the after credits. That could be where Adam was for this movie. Also take note that GotG 2 will take place before Avengers 3. I suspect we will probably see Warlock and the soul gem in it.
Nova wasn’t there because Xandar still stood. Richard Rider was “the last Nova” when he was introduced. Likely, Thanos will raze Xandar to get the Infinity Stone which will cause Nova’s origin. Also, Adam Warlock’s cocoon was in Dark World.
Um… No. Richard Rider was introduced in the 1970s, where he was granted the Nova Force by a dying centurian. Nova then returned to Xandar to help in their war against the Skrull Empire.
You’e thinking of Annihilation, which revamped Rider’s character.
It is unreasonable to expect a Nova cameo because it would undercut their ability to fully explore his origins in future films, and it would be one more baffling thing for non-comic folks…and like it or not these movies have to walk the line between reverence to the source material and being comprehensible to average viewers. I thought it was amazing to see Nova Corp on screen and I love knowing that they can go back for more into the future. I don’t understand how not seeing Nova could have detracted from your enjoyment of Guardians since the movie is so profoundly not about that. Howard is a funny one-off joke. Nova deserves more than just a cameo, and Marvel was smart enough to realize that. Regarding Adam Warlock, I’ve heard there is actually some dispute over the rights to him since he is historically tied to the Fantastic Four. He’s also one of those characters with a really convoluted origin that will need to be streamlined for it to make any sense in the movies, and attempting to bring him in here would have seriously detracted from the story of the Guardians. I love forward to seeing Adam and Nova in future movies and in the meantime I will thrill to the best Guardian of the Galaxy movie that we comic fans could ever reasonable hope for, especially since 5 years ago we’d have been laughed off the stage for even suggesting a movie about Rocket Raccoon.
Warlock’s cocoon had a cameo in the Collector’s collection, burst free in the scene with Howard the Duck. As for Nova, I think they wanted to introduce the corps first, have them all sacrifice themselves, then lay the groundwork for a single person to wield all of that power the Nova Corps no longer have…
Adam Warlock’s cocoon was in the Collector’s gallery. James Gunn pointed it out in an interview
Maybe this is a stepping stone for an eventual Nova movie? And SPOILER ALERT! That IS Adam Warlock’s cocoon in the Collectors trophy room.
Being as Rhomann Dey (payed by John C. Reily in the movie) is the Nova Centurion (yes, not Denarion) that recruits Richard Rider in the comics, I doubt the Human Rocket is a Nova Corpsman just yet.
Then again, Garthan Saal is Super Nova in the comics, and is dead in the MCU, so of course changes will happen.
One things for sure, though. With an Infinity Gem in the Nova Corps possession, Xandar is doomed. Here’s hoping the adapt the Annihilation Wave storyline so Richard and Star-Lord can have some time to shine, leading Kree resistance against Thanos. It’s a shame Ronan is dead though.
That design is for the black-helmeted Corps members, whom we’re learning about in the current Nova books surrounding Sam Alexander
We saw a Nova prime, but no Centurion, so I think he’s still out there. I kinda wish he was teased at the end, they Ducked out on having it be anything important.
“Ducked out” hehehe I see what you did there.
in the words of Spider-Man:
“I saw what you did there…fuck you.” lol
but seriously, you’re right. My friend and I were thinking that if a human Nova were to be introduced, it’ll maybe be the new Nova with the Supernovas.
http://tinyurl.com/9xxwgbl
Well put; a veritable hit across the port bow. Nicely done!
Well just from the surrounding photos, I would say that this is just a page of alternate designs for the helmet they ended up using. Check the trailer when Reilly says, “this might not be the best idea.” There are two Nova Corps in the background with helmets and arm weapons standing guard. Their uniform looks the same except for the helmet. It was only the named Corps members who went without helmet.
Looks more like a Supernova helmet than Richard Rider’s.