The Nova Corps are dead, but Richard Ryder is still fighting to keep their memory alive in Marvel Comics. In fact, in the most recent issue of Nova: Centurion #6, Nova was fighting an almost unstoppable villain when he revealed he had the powers of the entire Nova Corps, and used this to show how powerful the Nova powers really are. This is nothing new, either as the former Nova Corps members have been everything from intergalactic cops protecting the universe to heralds of Galactus, and the most powerful stand up to anyone in the known universe.

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Here is a look at the most powerful Nova Corps in the history of Marvel Comics.

7) Jesse Alexander

Jesse Alexander is a former Nova Centurion who worked with the Black Novas elite unit (the Supernovas) before he quit and disappeared. He actually went to Earth and served as a custodian at a school and had a son named Sam. However, while on Earth, he struggled with PTSD from his time as a Nova Corps member and spiraled out of control.

That said, when Jesse was in the Black Novas, he was considered one of the most powerful members and an integral part of the intergalactic peace corps unit. He accessed the Nova Force through his helmet, which gave him all the powers of the Nova Corps, something that was passed on to his son Sam. While he is not as powerful as others thanks to his later struggles, he did lead a revolt against the Chitauri, showing leadership skills an inner strength.

6) Sam Alexander

Sam Alexander is Jesse’s son, and he gained the powers of the Nova Corps when he found his father’s helmet in his shed. As a young teenager, he wasn’t very strong at first, but he soon came into his own thanks to his friends and became a member of the Avengers and later the Champions, showing he was as much of a hero as any adult around him.

Using the Nova helmet, he possesses superhuman strength and durability and he can fly at warp speeds in space. He can also fire energy projectiles from his hands. Sam Alexander’s helmet is also connected to the Worldmind, and since the entire Nova Corps was destoryed, other than Richard Ryder, he is one of the few remaining people in the universe with this connection. His ranking is limited because he was never accepted by the Nova Corps in general before their destruction.

5) Anwen Bakian

Anwen Bakian is from an alternate universe known as Earth-94241 and she is a Nova ranger whose family had a lineage in the Nova Corps, inheriting her powers from her mother. What makes her stand out from other Nova Corps members is her reality-warping and reality-altering abilities. She not only has these powers, but she rivals the similar powers of Thanos when he has the Infinity Stones.

In fact, the young Anwen Bakian actually fought Thanos and proved her vast cosmic powers, which eventually led her to wield the Death Stone, allowing her to take out Thanos with one blow, turning him to dust. That one act alone shows how powerful of a Nova that Anwen really is.

4) Robbie Ryder

Robbie Ryder is Richard Ryder’s brother and he was a genius at Project PEGASUS who was brought in to help reconstitute the Nova Corps. However, when he ended up stranded on Xandar with no active powers, he was vulnerable compared to other Nova Corps members, which came into effect when he ended up brainwashed into serving the Fraternity of Raptors.

That said, he later became much more powerful when he bonded with the Nega-Bands, turning him into the entity known as Dark Starhawk. This also shows the big difference between Robbie and other Nova Corps members since he relies on technology and external power sources and not the Nova Force access, which limits his powers to having the tech at hand.

3) Firelord

Firelord is Pyrus Kril, a Xandarian Nova Centurion from the Nova Corps Academy who had to sacrifice himself to save Xandar. This happened when Galactus showed up and needed to feed, so Firelord agreed to transform into Galactus’s herald to save his world, which gave him part of the Power Cosmic, making him one of the universe’s most powerful beings.

The Power Cosmic for Pyrus Kril ended up turning him into a being comprised of nuclear energies, making him the equivalent of a miniature star. This also gave him superhuman strength, the ability to fly faster than light speed, immunity to space and radiation, and mastery of the electromagnetic spectrum. While he has godlike powers, he has always been a subordinate to others above him.

2) Air-Walker

Air-Walker is another Nova Corps member who agreed to become a herald of Galactus. He was not only a Galactus herald, but was one of the most respected and trusted for Galactus personally. Before his stint with Galactus, he was the most decorated war hero on Xandar and was the captain of a diplomatic ship, called the Way-Opener. It was here that he chose to become Galactus’s herald.

The Power Cosmic gave him the ability to become a living battery that could wield cosmic energy. He could manipulate the weather and create just about any weather condition, from hurricanes and storms to massive heat eaves. He ranks below the Silver Surfer in his mastery of the Power Cosmic, but remains one of the most powerful heralds in history, with near-omnipotent power levels.

1) Richard Ryder

The most powerful Nova Corps member is the last official member still alive, Richard Ryder. When the Nova Corps was decimated, Nova became the sole host of the entire Nova Force, which is a vast universal energy source previously distributed among all Nova Corps members across the galaxy. In his recent comics, he has shown the extent of those powers, and it is impressive.

He has been the Nova Prime for years, and that made him one of the most powerful of the Nova Corps even when they were still alive and in power. He is also the Bearer of the Worldmind, which is the living Xandarian supercomputer that contains the entire civilization’s records and the consciousness of every Xandarian who ever lived. Nova alone possesses the full Nova Corps Force, making him the supreme cosmic authority for the once proud organization.

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