Nova Corps

Given the relative obscurity of the characters that regularly get featured in Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” title, it’s always been something of a curiosity as to why they’re the next priority when it comes to the movies Marvel Studios is making. Couldn’t they be spending their time and resources introducing characters that have a little bit more mainstream recognition into their film world?

The logical answer to this question has been that, seeing as The Avengers are likely to be going up against the intergalactic conqueror Thanos in The Avengers 2, Guardians of the Galaxy will be the vehicle through which Marvel’s extended cosmic universe gets introduced. Just imagine if The Avengers 2 had to do all of the heavy lifting when it comes to who Thanos is, why he’s such a threat, and what exactly he’s been getting up to across the entire universe for all these years. The movie would be completely bogged down with exposition and unable to enjoy all of the brevity in storytelling that being a Part 2 usually affords a film. But introduce a number of alien worlds in this Guardians of the Galaxy movie, have Thanos lurking in the background as an unspeakable threat, and suddenly a lot of the narrative load is taken off of The Avengers 2’s shoulder. Plus, you might create a bankable new film franchise to boot.

A new report from Aint It Cool News hints at the fact that Guardians of the Galaxy might be getting even deeper into the job of world-building than any of us ever imagined though. In addition to having spotted the trademark spaceships that the Nova Corps use for travel in the background of some concept art for Guardians of the Galaxy, they also claim to have a source that’s told them that the Nova Corps are “definitely a part of the movie.”

For the uninitiated, the Nova Corps are an intergalactic police force with members from all sorts of different planets and species, including a human named Richard Rider from Earth. These guys can fly, shoot laser blasts out of their hands, and they wear buckets upside down on their heads like Magneto. The point being—they’re the sort of concept that could anchor a film series entirely on their own, so it’s pretty surprising that they’re being introduced in a movie that’s already as jam-packed as Guardians of the Galaxy.

Of course, these might be irrelevant concerns that only our collective nerd brain would ponder. Nobody would say that a crime movie set in New York City was becoming too jam-packed because there are police in it and “now you have to introduce the entire concept of the NYPD.” What do you think? Are the Nova Corps just going to be generic cop-type characters existing in the background of the film? Or will we get to meet a couple of the members, which will then become a jumping off point for the Corps to get their own film? A Nova movie could be just what the Dr. ordered when it comes to undercutting whatever future plans Warner Bros. and DC have for The Green Lantern. This is all very curious.

SXSW 2014
Game of Thrones reviews
Got a Tip? Send it here:
Neil Miller
Managing Editor:
Scott Beggs
Associate Editors:
Rob Hunter
Kate Erbland
Christopher Campbell