Warning: The following contains spoilers for Annilhation Scourge: Nova #1 by Matthew Rosenberg, Ibraim Roberson, Carlos Lopez, VC's Cory Petit, on sale now.
Cowards get mentioned quite a bit in Marvel’s Annihilation - Scourge: Nova. With such a massive invasion from the Cancerverse assaulting the Marvel Universe right now, everyone is expected to fight. As Annihilus tells one of his wounded men earlier in the event, “If they can hold a weapon, they can fight. They will die fighting. I ask for nothing lesssss.”
With that in mind, it may come as a surprise to see just how Richard Rider's Nova reacts when he's captured by the Revengers, a corrupted team of Avengers from the Cancerverse, and threatened with being infected by the Scourge. He takes off, seemingly leaving the Negative Zone altogether, abandoning that dimension's inhabitants, and possibly ensuring the end of everything.
Even before he ran away, Richard Rider was already a drunken mess. Since the Nova Corps disappeared, he's been spending his time in yet another space station in the middle of Knowhere. Things only get worse once Annihilus, the other-dimensional tyrant who was behind the first Annihilation, shows up asking for his help.
Moments later, the crew of Annihulus’ ship arrives, and they're not too happy. Nova sends a few shots their way until one of their heads explodes. Out from the creature’s neck-stub comes long, black tentacles. This disgusting and bizarre sight instantly sobers Richard up and serves as an ominous sign of what’s to come.
The infected creatures overtake Nova. They surround him, grab his arms, begin to wrap their tentacles around his wrists and begin to envelop the Marvel hero. After understandably freaking out, Nova crashes through the wall into space. Once he’s clear of the things, he gives himself a moment to get his head straight - then throws the entire ship into a star, obliterating everyone on board. Subsequently, Nova and Annihilus team up to try to deal with the newest threat from the Cancerverse.
What this demonstrates is a severely twisted relationship between Richard Rider and the beings from the Cancerverse. Throughout his superhero career, he has spent a lot of time there, and was clearly traumatized by the experience. However, its residents appear to be infatuated with him, and the Cancerverse version of Captain America even calls him, “the One That Got Away.”
So when suddenly confronted by a bunch of these undying monsters, who have apparently been so efficient at taking over the Negative Zone that a warlord like Annihilus is begging for help, Nova runs away. However, he doesn’t stay away, though. He conquers his fears and pitches them into a star.
Eventually, Nova and Annihilus find themselves back in the Negative Zone on the moon of a burning planet. The Revengers arrive with the Sentry, and have every intention of making Nova one of them. When it seems like he has no other choice, he’s able to escape. Unlike before, however, he keeps going, and it looks like he may not be coming back.
At this point, it's not clear if Nova just hightailed it out of harm's way to save his own skin or is merely going to gather reinforcements. Rider has had an incredibly rough time over the past decade or so, and the sum total of his actions may have taken a very reasonable mental toll. While his quick departure does seem to be more of an instinctual response than a planned retreat, this event isn't quite finished yet, and Nova still has a chance to prove how heroic he is after all.