12. Regarded as one of the greatest and most popular comic book heroes to never appear in a film, Nova is an integral figure in the histories of both Thanos and the Guardians of the Galaxy
Taking form over the course of a decade, even the discarded early concepts of Nova are interesting in their own right. Of particular note, the initial version of the character, created by Marv Wolfman in 1966, was an alien doctor who discovered a box of pills that gifted him a different superhuman power every five minutes. Re-imagined in his final form in 1976, Nova was intended as an homage to Lee and Ditko’s Spider-Man, envisioning a working-class hero with an ordinary alter-ego. Selected by the last surviving member of the Nova Corps, New York high school student Richard Rider is transformed into a superhero with the powers of the eponymous planetary defense force of the destroyed world of Xandar.
Deriving his powers from an energy source – the Nova Force – Rider is granted the superhuman powers of flight, strength, and speed. Capable of traversing the vacuum of space, during the “Annihilation” storyline Rider is merged with the Worldmind, collective history and hivemind of Xandar offering him thousands of years of knowledge and the computing power of millions of individuals, to become a leading general in the conflict. With the destruction of Xandar off-screen prior to the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War, there is a perfect opening for the iconic character in the near future as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.