James Gunn, the director of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, reveals the reason that the comics character Nova was left out of the movies.
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn reveals why Nova wasn’t in the movie. Led by a strong ensemble cast that includes Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star Lord, Zoe Saldaña as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, and Vin Diesel as Groot, the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise kicked off in 2014. At the time, its tone, many new characters, and celestial setting offered a departure from most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s typical fare. With a sequel under their belt, appearances in a few other MCU films, and an upcoming holiday special and third installment, the Guardians of the Galaxy have become one of the most beloved superhero groups in the MCU due to their familial bonds and witty humor.
In the MCU, the Guardians’ core members have remained the same, though the group has added Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) while featuring frequent appearances from Yondu (Michael Rooker). However, several of the comic book characters associated with the team have yet to make their way onscreen, including the Nova Corps member Richard Rider, known as Nova. During an appearance on the Phase Zero Podcast, Gunn explains the reason that Nova wasn’t part of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy. See what the director had to say below:
“I never had Richard Rider in anything. He’s just too big of a character and he seemed too… I didn’t want to… From the beginning, when I came on board Guardians, I didn’t want to have two human beings. I wanted to have one human being so that he could be surrounded in this world of aliens. And then we realized little by little, that all of these characters are the only of their kind, they’re the only human being to them, you know?”
Why The Guardians Ensemble Works
Originally a high school student from New York, Rider was appointed to replace Rhomann Dey, the last surviving member of Xandar’s Nova Corps, upon Dey’s death in the comics. The teenager was bestowed with the powers of a Nova Centurion, which include flight, superhuman strength, and enhanced resistance to injury. Though the Guardians team does interact with Xandar and the Nova Corps in the movies, Nova is nowhere to be found. Despite Nova being a fan-favorite character in the comics, his youth and other factors would have potentially added too many elements for the Guardians of the Galaxy films to juggle since it already deals with a large ensemble cast, hence Gunn’s mention of Rider being “too big of a character.”
While Nova teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to fight Thanos in the comics, Nova was absent from the MCU’s battle against the villain, likely due to the reasons Gunn outlines above. Gunn’s strategy of having a member of each species on the team has been crucial to the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise’s success. The multiple culture clashes offer many opportunities for humor and introduce audiences to parts of the MCU that may be new to them, but the choice also speaks to the franchise’s overarching theme of found family.
Each member of the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy team has a backstory – often tragic – that has resulted in their present loneliness and difficulty trusting others. Since each character is the only one of their kind on the team and seemingly unlikely to mesh well with the other “alien” species around them, the payoff of the team’s eventual deep bond and camaraderie is extra satisfying and heartwarming. In addition, having each member represent a different species, planet, history, and culture brought balance to the team since each member was always a bit of an outsider. Therefore, they connected with the others, something that couldn’t have been achieved if the Guardians of the Galaxy team contained two humans.
Source: Phase Zero
