EXCLUSIVE: Richard Rider aka Nova looks to be joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe as sources tell Deadline that Marvel is developing a Nova project with Moon Knight scribe Sabir Pirzada on board to write. It is unknown for now whether this will be developed as a feature film or a limited series for Disney+. As always, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige will produce.

Nova first appeared in an 1966 issue of Super Adventures was member of the intergalactic police force known as the Nova Corps, for which he gained superhuman abilities including enhanced strength, flight and resistance to injury. While the character didn’t have many run-ins with some of the main figures of the current or past MCU, he did have some battles with the Skrulls, who have big parts in recent and upcoming Marvel projects including Captain Marvel and the limited series Secret Invasion.

As for Pirzada, like so many scribes who land a high-profile Marvel project to develop, he came up through the studio’s writer community, most recently helping in the writers room for Moon Knight series that premieres on March 30 on Disney+.

He is repped by 3 Arts and Gersh.

Marvel’s highly-anticipated Ironheart series continues to gain momentum as the studio has set Sam Bailey and Angela Barnes to direct the series for Disney+. Ironheart will star Dominique Thorne as Marvel character Riri Williams, a genius inventor and creator of the most advanced suit of armor since Iron Man. Deadline recently broke that Anthony Ramos would also be joining the cast. Deadline has also learned that Ryan Coogler’s production company, Proximity, has come on as producers.

Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian and Chinaka Hodge will serve as executive producers alongside Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, and Zoie Nagelhout. Chinaka Hodge was recently tapped as head writer on the series, first announced as being in development during Disney’s investor-day presentation in December 2020.

Bailey is the co-creator of the Emmy-nominated Brown Girls and the creator of the Gotham-nominated You’re So Talented which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Bailey served as a producer and director on the final season of Netflix’s Dear White People as well as a director on the previous season of the show. She also directed Powderkeg’s East of La Brea (SXSW Selectee, Urban World Film Festival Winner). She is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment, CAA, and Amy Nickin of Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz.

Barnes is also an in-demand television director who has helmed episodes of Mythic Quest, Blindspotting and the upcoming season 4 of Atlanta. Barnes is repped by Brant Rose Agency and M88.

Proximity signed an overall deal with Disney in February 2021 and is coming off the box-office hit Space Jam: A New Legacy, which they produced as well as the Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah.

highly-anticipated Ironheart series