Rumored Marvel Nova Star Has Already Been to Space (And It Made Him Physically Sick)

Even though Glen Powell might be venturing into space as Nova, the actor has previously portrayed one of the most well-known Americans in space, and the ordeal left him feeling ill. There’s been some educated speculation that Powell could play Richard Rider, a human member of the Nova Corps and possibly the MCU’s next major hero. Michael Waldron, the rumored director of Marvel’s Nova project and co-creator of the Hulu comedy Chad Powers with Powell, provided a delightfully evasive non-answer that didn’t close the door when asked about casting Powell. However, if Powell transforms into Nova, he will be going back to familiar territory. Despite his prior portrayal of John Glenn in Hidden Figures (2016), he had a negative reaction to seeing himself in space for the first time.

Hidden Figures tells the incredible true story of three Black women who helped launch America’s early space program. Theodore Melfi served as the director. Taraji P. Henson portrays mathematician Katherine Johnson, Octavia Spencer plays Dorothy Vaughan, and Janelle Monáe plays Mary Jackson. Powell plays astronaut John Glenn, the first American to enter orbit around the Earth aboard Friendship 7 in 1962. While the film focuses on the incredible work of the women behind the scenes, Glenn’s historic flight is one of its most dramatic sequences. Powell was under tremendous pressure to play a true American hero in a film about people who had been overlooked for decades.

The women who worked to make Glenn’s flight a reality are the true stars of Hidden Figures, even though it is one of the film’s most iconic moments. Early NASA missions relied heavily on Johnson’s calculations, and Vaughan recognized the power of computers and trained herself and her coworkers to code them. Jackson’s struggle for the title of first Black female engineer at NASA. The film examines the sexism these women faced on the job at the space agency and features comedic moments, an inspiring story of individuals who refused to let others dictate their potential, and some genuinely outrageous moments. The rest of the cast includes Jim Parsons, Kirsten Dunst, and Kevin Costner; music and production are by Pharrell Williams.

One Small Step for Glen Powell

Powell had been working his way through Hollywood for several years before appearing in Hidden Figures. Comic-book movie fans may recognize him as the stock trader involved in Bane’s attack on the Gotham Stock Exchange in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012). He also appeared alongside Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables 3 (2014) as Thorn, a tech-savvy member of the younger team. He appeared as Chad Radwell in Ryan Murphy’s horror comedy Scream Queens. But Hidden Figures was a different kind of opportunity. Instead of another charismatic troublemaker, Powell played a national hero in a historical drama with a standout ensemble cast. And, despite his minor role, he understood the importance of telling the story of Johnson, Vaughan, and Jackson. Unfortunately, this only exacerbated his reaction to seeing the unfinished movie.

Houston, We Have A Problem

Powell saw a rough cut of Hidden Figures, which was still a work in progress with no visual effects, music, or sound design. Watching himself play John Glenn opposite Henson, Spencer, and Monáe, he was convinced he had completely ruined the film. “I literally walked out of the movie and threw up in the bushes,” Powell said. He felt he had let down the women whose achievements the film was celebrating. The half-done effects didn’t do much to help. Things that were supposed to be floating in zero gravity were obviously being supported by wires, and technicians were still visible in the footage. At one point a crew member was holding something as a representation of the sun. It’s difficult to play a convincing astronaut when the audience can see the people driving your spacecraft.

Powell hadn’t messed anything up, thankfully. Hidden Figures was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and was a box office success. Since then, Powell has become a leading man in films like Top Gun: Maverick, Anyone But You, and Twisters. It remains to be seen if he actually is Nova, but it would be sending an actor into space who already knows something about the experience. And given how much of the MCU is shot against green screens, he might want to keep some Pepto-Bismol around. I mean, if Hidden Figures made him hurl in the bushes, wait until he sees himself battling an alien army that hasn’t even been animated yet.