Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame had a lot of ground to cover with their massive casts, but one Marvel hero was originally intended to play a major role. Infinity War almost debuted Richard Rider's Nova, with Glenn Close filling the role of the Xandarian Worldmind.
"We actually had, I remember in the big manifesto thing that we did, where the first work we did on these movies where we just... every possible storyline that you could take from what's around, that Nova has the Xandarian Worldmind," Infinity War and Endgame writer Christopher Markus told ComicBook.com. "Yeah, the Xandarian Worldmind, was that after... it was almost going... In this conception, he would be the herald, not unlike the Hulk, who was actually standing in for the Silver Surfer, but that one member of the Nova Corps survived Thanos' attack. The Xandarian Worldmind would be the voice of Glenn Close, because you had her and why not? And that he would be Richard Rider and he would come to earth."
In the comics, Richard Rider comes to inherit both the Xandarian Worldmind and the power of the Nova Corps in order to preserve their legacy after the destruction of Xandar. Glenn Close was a part of the Nova Corps' first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe during her stint as Nova Prime in Guardians of the Galaxy.
Despite the potential to finally bring Nova into the mix, the writers decided against it. In the end, the timing just wasn't right. "But you're introducing a whole new character when we're trying to say goodbye to all the ones that you know," added Stephen McFeely.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Endgame stars Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Don Cheadle as War Machine, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Bradley Cooper as Rocket, with Gwyneth Paltrow Pepper Potts, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, Benedict Wong as Wong, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and Josh Brolin as Thanos. The film is available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD.