With Loki season two scheduled to begin filming shortly and the release of the Ms. Marvel streaming series on the horizon, fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are clamoring for details about any and all of the brand's upcoming project slate.
With little known about Marvel’s upcoming Nova project, fans can hope for any of the character’s villains to feature alongside the Human Rocket. But before any of them can be judged for an MCU appearance, they need their appearances in the source material to be recognized.
Diamondhead
Originally a mean-tempered bully named Archibald Dyker, Diamondhead debuted in 1976's Nova #3 before teaming up with fellow trouble-seekers Condor and Powerhouse as the Terrible Trio. While they were trying to stop villain Sphinx, their less-than-legal methods often brought them face to face with Nova.
Diamondhead's powers come in the form of super-strength and diamond-like skin, but his fighting ability is from his history as a boxer. He had a proclivity for theft, often robbing banks, but it's his smart-alec attitude in his battles with Nova that makes him an iconic foe.
Annihilus
Annihilus is often regarded as one of the Fantastic Four's most powerful villains, but after the events of the Annihilation arc, he becomes a powerful Nova villain as well. His destruction of the Nova Corps and Xandar led Richard Rider to possess the Nova Force and Worldmind.
The destruction of Xandar and the Nova Corps are pivotal moments in Nova's comics history. Annihilus's actions not only end up forcing Rider as Nova to become more powerful, but they also set up the series of events that define Nova as a leader in the rebuilding of the Nova Corps.
Harrow
The parasitic villain, Harrow, links itself to Galactus to feed off the fear and panic energy caused by this massive, planet-eating, cosmic entity's chaos and disasters as he consumes worlds. Nova's encounter with Harrow is particularly memorable as the parasite caused additional fear and chaos on the planet Orbucen as Galactus prepares to feed on it.
After being possessed by Harrow and being horrified at the levels of suffering this entity had caused, Nova helps set up Galactus to destroy the parasite. This leads to Galactus sparing Nova, which shows just how vital Nova is in the grand scheme of the Marvel Universe.
Apox
After experimentation, Apox was created as a living weapon for the Skrulls. However, he believed that his ability to harness the same kinds of cosmic energy as Galactus and Annihilus meant that other Skrulls should defer to him. When they didn't, he eliminated them, leaving the Skrulls' weapons experiment a failure.
Apox's powers go beyond that of traditional Skrull warriors. He has telepathy, strength, resilience, and the ability to harness energy from the Power Cosmic, a similar source to what sustains Nova's powers, creating a well-matched fight between the two.
Thanos
Having already become one of the greatest villains in the MCU, Thanos's powers and abilities combined with his genocidal ideology make him a threat to the universe's safety even before he possessed the powers of the infinity gauntlet.
Thanos's biggest battle against Nova occurred in the Cancerverse, an alternate timeline. This reality is full of the undead as Death rejects Thanos. and Nova and Star-Lord keep him trapped in this reality, which has served as Nova's biggest storyline in recent years.
Blastaar
The king of planet Baluur and, at one time, the Negative Zone, Blastaar's strength, power, near invulnerability, and intelligence make him a huge threat to Nova and the universe. He's clever enough to have been able to steal the Cosmic Control Rod away from Annihilus.
Among his many abilities is the power to calm his heart rate and bodily functions to the point where he can survive extended periods of time in suspended animation while in the airless vacuum of space, which led to his appearance in the Cancerverse with Nova. This lead to an uneasy treaty alongside Nova that Blastaar later betrays.
Powerhouse
There are few enemies more dangerous than a brainwashed ally, and Nova's face-offs against Powerhouse are proof of that. This former Nova Corps member was struck by meteors and developed amnesia before being discovered and manipulated by Condor. His ranking in the comics iteration of the Nova Corps places him just below Nova Prime, the highest-ranking a Corps member could achieve.
Powerhouse's powers are similar to that of a Nova Corps member, but he also has the ability to transfer the energy of other objects and beings to himself to add to his strength, which he has used against Nova.
Dr. Sun
Once a prominent scientist, Dr. Sun developed a procedure to transplant a brain that could survive in an artificial nervous system. Unfortunately, like many brilliant comic scientists, he was evil. Tried and punished by having his own brain transplanted as part of his experimentation, Dr. Sun became a brain inside of a robotic exoskeleton.
Dr. Sun's consciousness is basically controlled by a computer-based intelligence program. The threat he poses to Nova and the Corps, with their planet-sized computer system on Xandar as the main source of their power, makes a potent foe.
Sphinx
Cursed with immortality, Sphinx targeted Nova in the hopes that Nova Corps power and planet-sized computer system would have knowledge of how to end his millennia-spanning life. He believed that Nova, as a physical recipient of Nova Corps's power and the Human Rocket, was a mechanized entity that would end his immortality.
When that wasn't the case, Sphinx turned his attention to destroying Earth, Nova Richard Rider's home planet. He then turned his perfect recall of history, energy manipulation, and his ability to read and control minds, towards the destruction of the planet.
Garthan Saal
Even though Nova's one of the best heroes not yet in the MCU, one of his most iconic adversaries has already made his appearance and died. Garthan Saal's appearance as Supernova in the comics focuses heavily on the aftermath of the Nova Corps and Xandar's destruction at the hands of Space Pirate Nebula.
His anger at Nova culminated when Saal drained Nova of the Nova Force and Worldmind, nearly killing Nova in the process. Saal's focus on vengeance for those who died in the destruction of Xandar, his stubbornness, and his Nova Corps powers made him a formidable frenemy for Richard Rider.