Beau DeMayo, the showrunner for X-Men ’97, recently shared an idea he had for a Nova television series that was never made. This pitch, which he created after finishing the third season of X-Men ’97, took inspiration from the movie Starship Troopers. The series would follow Richard Rider as he joins the Nova Corps, partly because he has feelings for Namorita.
DeMayo’s concept included elements of satire and dark humor, similar to the style of Starship Troopers. The story would highlight how the Nova Corps uses propaganda to hide the dangers of an impending threat called the Annihilation Wave. Eventually, Richard and his team would find themselves operating outside the authority of the Corps. The plot would show Richard losing friends as they face the grim realities of intergalactic battles, reflecting the losses depicted in Starship Troopers.
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To keep production costs down, DeMayo planned a major plot twist around the third or fourth episode. The Nova team would get stranded on what seems like a perfect planet, only to discover it’s actually a ghost town filled with creatures controlled by Annihilus.
DeMayo wrote, “my idea was you treat Annihilation Wave like the bugs in Starship Troopers and then tell the story of the guy who joins the army to impress a girl, Namorita. Build a band of friends that we then slowly kill as Rick and his friends experience the horrors of intergalactic war.”
This storyline was meant to create a survival story similar to Pitch Black, showcasing the difference between what the Nova Corps reported and what the characters actually faced. The revelation of Annihilus’ power over the creatures would pave the way for a second season focused on Richard’s mission to confront Annihilus before the Annihilation Wave hit key MCU planets.
Although DeMayo’s idea didn’t move forward, Marvel Studios is working on a separate Nova series. Brad Winderbaum, the Head of Streaming, Television, and Animation at Marvel Studios, confirmed that the project is in development but that they are taking their time to make sure it meets their quality standards.
Marvel plans to proceed only when they are happy with the pilot and the overall vision for the show, which reflects their current approach of having several projects in different stages of development before starting production.
Sources: DeMayo/X
