Marvel not moving forward with its ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ spin-off that could’ve starred Henry Cavill is actually a crime

Henry Cavill.

The aforementioned Disney Plus shows that have been indefinitely “paused” over at Marvel Studios would’ve offered something for every kind of MCU fan. There’s Strange Academy, a show about a magic school founded by Stephen Strange that would’ve been Marvel’s “answer to Harry Potter.” Then there’s Terror Inc., a more left-field concept featuring anti-hero Terror that no doubt would’ve appealed to horror lovers and made up for the whole Blade debacle.

Last but certainly not least, Nova is also confirmed to no longer be in development at Marvel Towers. Fans have been patiently waiting for the cosmic hero to enter the Sacred Timeline for the better part of decade now, ever since the Russos confirmed Nova was in the first draft of Avengers: Infinity War and Kevin Feige announced he was actively working to put him back in the franchise in 2019. It’s now 2025 and we’re tragically even further away from this becoming a reality.

Henry Cavill might’ve been in the running to play one of the Avengers’ biggest villains in Nova

It becomes even more tragic when you factor in the associated rumors surrounding Nova. Since news broke of the project getting pulled, it’s been claimed that Henry Cavil was being sought after for a big role. No, not as Nova, but as Annihilus, one of the most powerful villains in Marvel’s canon. Again, this is just a rumor, and one that only says Marvel was looking into Cavill for the part, but the prospect is tantalizing nonetheless. Even though now it seems destined never to go anywhere.

What’s more, insider Daniel Richtman has shared that the studio was considering Austin Butler to play lead character Richard Rider. A big name of Cavill’s stature and an Oscar-nominated actor like Butler in the same show? Marvel was clearly aiming high when it came to star power for this one, so if these murmurings are accurate it’s all the more bizarre that execs have lost interest.

Things were going well as recently as December, when Criminal Minds alum Ed Bernero was hired as showrunner. Given Bernero’s past, we get the feeling Nova could’ve been a police procedural kind of show, with an outer space twist. In other words, the MCU’s equivalent to DC’s Lanterns series for Max. Did Marvel not want to step on the toes of what old pal James Gunn was doing? Cavill being involved would’ve only sharpened the rivalry.

Nova — a human who bonds with the Nova Force (the power source of the Nova Corps, as introduced in Guardians of the Galaxy) — is too key a character in Marvel comics to be left out of the MCU forever, but it does seem like this iteration of his introduction is dead in the water space. And with it, maybe Cavill’s best shot at having a major role in this universe, at last. Ah well, at least we’ll always have the Cavillrine.