Yahoo recently published a piece naming Glen Powell alongside two other actors they believe should suit up as Richard Rider — the cosmic Marvel hero Nova — whenever the MCU officially gets the project off the ground. It's the kind of fan-casting conversation that never gets old, and for good reason: Nova is one of the most anticipated Marvel properties still waiting for its moment.
Why Nova Is the MCU's Most Exciting Open Role Right Now
Richard Rider is essentially Marvel's answer to a classic hero archetype — a regular kid from Long Island who gets handed the power of an entire intergalactic police force and has to figure out what to do with it. That premise demands an actor with enormous charisma, believable vulnerability, and the physical presence to carry a cosmic action franchise. The role also needs to feel fresh at a time when superhero fatigue is a real conversation in Hollywood. Whoever lands Nova will be planting a flag for the next generation of MCU storytelling, which means the stakes for casting this right couldn't be higher.
Glen Powell's name makes obvious sense on paper. After Top Gun: Maverick and Twisters, he's proven he can anchor a big-budget action spectacle while keeping audiences genuinely charmed. He's got the jawline, the swagger, and — crucially — the comedic timing that cosmic Marvel projects tend to demand. But is he actually the fan community's first choice? The myCast data tells a more interesting story.
What myCast Fans Are Actually Saying About Nova Casting
The myCast community has been dreaming up Nova casts across multiple stories, and the results reveal some genuinely compelling alternatives to the Hollywood consensus.
The most-voted Richard Rider pick on the platform belongs to Dylan O'Brien, who has earned 3 votes in the NOVA fan-cast story — making him the single most-supported choice across all Nova stories on the site. That's not a surprise to anyone who watched O'Brien carry the Maze Runner franchise or his more recent dramatic work. He brings exactly the kind of grounded emotional range that separates a good superhero performance from a great one, and he skews slightly younger than Powell, which could matter for a character Marvel presumably wants to anchor for a decade.
Elsewhere in that same story, fans have also cast as Sam Alexander — the younger Nova who shares the mantle in the comics — suggesting some community members are already thinking about how Marvel might blend both versions of the character into a single narrative. The supporting cast picks are equally thoughtful: as Namorita and in the director's chair paint a picture of a slick, character-driven cosmic adventure.