Marvel Television Pauses Development On 'Nova', Two Other Series
'Strange Academy' and 'Terror Inc.' have also been paused
Something strange is going on at Marvel Studios. Marvel Television has paused development on three television series: Strange Academy, Terror Inc. and Nova.
These projects were never officially greenlit, but aren’t completely halted, so they may resume at some point. The pause is just a shift of priorities at the moment. It also has a lot to do with the overhaul of how they approach the process, which happened when the writers’ strike had already started, if not the SAG strike as well. Originally, it was much closer to: a slate was announced, and the complete slate usually got made (see Inhumans and the Blade troubles for exceptions). The new way is the more traditional way, more projects being developed than will actually be made, and having actual showrunners for whatever is. This is seen as a way to fend off potential superhero fatigue and oversaturation, so the studio pulled back significantly on how many projects released each year.
The Nova series, about the hero member of the intergalactic police force known as the Nova Corps who gained enhanced strength, flight and resistance to injury, assumed to be Richard Rider bearing the mantle, did get a showrunner in Third Watch co-creator Ed Bernero, reported in December. The Strange Academy series’s existence was scooped up around that time. It would be an adaptation of the book of the same name by Skottie Young and artist Humberto Ramos, which debuted in March 2020. It follows a school in New Orleans founded by Doctor Strange to teach magical kids, expected to focus on Wong, played by Benedict Wong, who would be running the school. Echo alum Amy Rardin was working on the show.
Terror, Inc. didn’t have any names attached yet but is about Terror, considered an antihero who can incorporate others’ body parts to acquire their memories and abilities. The character was created by Dan Chichester, Margaret Clark, and Klaus Janson, debuting as Shreck in St. George #2 in August 1988 before being reintroduced in 1992 under the current name.
Brad Winderbaum, Marvel Studios’s Head of TV, Streaming, and Animation has said “We’re developing more than we make now, so we’re actually have a few different things brewing that we might see through to at least a pilot script to see if we want to make it,” said Winderbaum. “But, there’s a lot of opportunity out there, it’s hard to choose favorites… We’re really being careful about what we choose to do next.”
Source: Deadline