Almost three years have gone by since we heard that Marvel Studios had hired Moon Knight writer Sabir Pirzada to start developing a Disney+ TV series that would center on the character Nova… but we never heard anything more about Nova until earlier this year, when Brad Winderbaum, the head of streaming, television, and animation at Marvel, told the Phase Zero podcast, “We love Nova. We are in really early development on Nova.” Soon after, Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel Studios, confirmed to ComicBook.com that a Nova TV series is “happening, it’s coming together.” Now, industry scooper Jeff Sneider of The InSneider has broken the news that Nova has found its showrunner!

Sneider wrote on X, “Ed Bernero to showrun NOVA for Marvel.“

Who is Ed Bernero? That would be Edward Allen Bernero, who co-created the series Third Watch, worked as an executive producer on Criminal Minds, wrote and produced the first two of the three seasons of the international production Crossing Lines, and co-created the short-lived spin-off series Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. Bernero was a police officer in Chicago before he got into the entertainment industry, starting off as a freelance writer for the police drama Brooklyn South.

Nova / Richard Rider is a member of the intergalactic police force called the Nova Corps, which was brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014 – so fans of the character have been clamoring for him to make his MCU debut ever since.

If you’re not familiar with Richard Rider, Marvel Fandom provides some background information: “Richard Rider was born in Hempstead, New York. As a teenager, he was chosen at random by the alien Rhomann Dey, last surviving Centurion of the planet Xandar’s elite Nova Corps, to inherit his power and succeed him in the rank of Nova Prime following the destruction of his world by the intergalactic pirate Zorr. Having been mortally wounded in the battle that tore Xandar apart, Dey succeeded in tracking Zorr to Earth, but he was unable to exact vengeance himself due to the extent of his injuries. At death’s door, Dey had little choice but to transfer his power to an unsuspecting human on the planet below, gambling that whoever he found would be willing to take up his cause and prove worthy of the powers he had given their recipient.” Wikipedia adds that the power Rider inherited from Dey gives him “access to the Nova Force and superhuman abilities including enhanced strength, flight and resistance to injury.“

In the MCU, Thanos already made a mess of Xandar and the Nova Corps back during the Avengers: Infinity War days, so the TV show could use that event as the set-up instead of an attack by Zorr… but Avengers: Infinity War was several years ago and Thanos was killed off, so they might want to make the event that forces Dey to pass his powers to Rider something more recent, and something that involves a villain who’s still alive.

When Feige confirmed the project, he said Nova was still probably “three or four years out,” so it sounds like Bernero will have a good amount of time to figure it all out.

Are you interested in seeing a Nova TV series? What do you think of Edward Allen Bernero being chosen as the showrunner? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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