Recently saw the Russo brothers confirm Nova was in The Avengers: Endgame (we hope), and now following the rumors of an Annihilation movie, it is rumored that Kevin Feige and Marvel are looking at a Christopher Nolan actor to play Richard Rider in the MCU.

The rumor comes from TVO from his weekly YouTube show on the Lords of the Long Box channel.

According to the rumor, Marvel and Feige are setting a meeting with a twenty-something actor who appeared in a Christopher Nolan movie to audition for Richard Rider, otherwise known as Nova, the Human Rocket.

Nova, Annihilation rumored for MCU

Regarding the Annihilation rumor, it is claimed the flick will take place between Marvel Phases 4 and 6 and precedes a big Secret Wars Avengers-style movie.

Taking a quick look at the Christopher Nolan flicks, 25-year-old Dunkirk actor Harry Styles fits the bill, who does seem to resemble Richard Rider a lot. Style is also known for the boy band One Direction.

There is also 22-year-old Fionn Whitehead, who interestingly enough is the same age as Nova in the Annihilation comic, I believe. He definitely has a Richard Rider vibe to him, as well (might need to bulk up a bit).

Here is a pic of the two from 2017 (Styles on left; Whitehead on right):

Barry Keoghan from Dunkirk is another possible contender as he is 26-years-old, Tom Glynn-Carney (24), or Jack Lowden (29).

Interstellar's Timothée Chalamet could also be possible as now he is 23 years old.

Nova MCU debut?

Regarding Nova's potential introduction in the MCU, the start of Infinity War revealed that Thanos and his Black Order had decimated Xandar, the home of the Nova Corps, to acquire the Power Stone. This is sort of similar to the comics where Xander is destroyed by the Annhiiatlion wave, which left Richard Rider as the sole surviving member of the Nova Corps.

The MCU could change things a bit in that Richard Rider is the sole surviving member of the Nova Corps from the Thanos, Black Order, Xander battle. As I said before, it could be possible that Richard Rider was snapped at the end of Infinity War and then returned five years later during Endgame. It's also possible that the different Snaps ripped open a door to the Negative Zone, which causes Annihilus to invade the MCU and leads to a Nova Annihilation movie. The comic also featured Super-Skrull, Ronan, Drax, Silver Surfer, Galactus and more; so with Disney now owning Fox Studios, all the characters are owned by Marvel Studios.

I know fans of the Annihilation comics and the stellar 2007 Nova comic from Abnett and Lanning are hoping for an MCU approach that is similar in tone to the comics, a gritty military-science-fiction take, so hopefully with it learned at Comic-Con that Doctor Strange 2 will be going more on the horror side, Feige thinks his MCU audience would be able to handle a more serious Nova and Annihilation flick.