Spoilers for Annihilation - Scourge: Omega #1
Richard Rider has been one of the unluckiest Marvel superheroes while patrolling the galaxy as Nova. He’s dealt with numerous personal tragedies while having to maintain his focus as the last member of the Nova Corps. After taking on the Cancerverse, Nova meets his end. However, he’s saved by one of the last people you’d ever expect.
Nova has been on the receiving end of bad luck for a long time in recent Marvel continuity. Since joining the Nova Corps, he has seen them wiped out not once, but twice. He’s singlehandedly carried the load for a once large, active organization. Nova’s also been stuck in the Cancerverse suffering endless torture - and when he was finally freed, he learned his dad passed away.
In Annihilation - Scourge: Omega #1 by Matthew Rosenberg, Manuel Garcia and Josemaria Casanovas, The Sentry and the Cancerverse are trying to burst through a forcefield protecting inhabitants of The Negative Zone who have fled as refugees. Nova and a large group of the galaxy’s most notable heroes show up and take on the Cancerverse and its monsters head-on. After Silver Surfer rejoins The Sentry’s two halves, he reveals the Cancerverse wants Nova back as its prisoner and that the fighting will likely stop if he returns.
As the heroes come up with a plan to save Nova, Rider goes straight for the Cancerverse. He makes the ultimate sacrifice and absorbs the bridge between the Negative Zone and the Cancerverse. Nova expands as he’s consumed and The Sentry blows him up. As the heroes celebrate his life, it’s revealed Silver Surfer is in The Negative Zone, where Nova is revived by Annihilus and is given the life eternal. Annihilus tells Nova, “I have brought you back from the dead, Nova. Now my debt issss paid. Now, both of you get the hell out of my dimension,” as he offers the hero his helmet.
Nova sacrificed himself to save the universe and the Negative Zone. While Annihilus is responsible for some of the biggest atrocities in Rider’s life, Nova chose to help and team up with him during a time of need. Even Annihilus understood how big his sacrifice was and offered him a chance to live again. While I wouldn’t say Annihilus is debt-free when it comes to Nova, it’s a step in the right direction for the villain to make amends.
Something tells us when Nova assumes his duties on the Nova Corps, he’s not going to be 100 percent the same person he was before. Annihilus’s resurrection has to come with a twist. Is Annihilus help truly paved with good intentions or is it the start of an evil new plan for the leader of the Negative Zone? Nova is about to find out.
