While searching for his missing father, Jesse Alexander, Sam fell off his skateboard and hit his head. When he woke he discovered Richard Rider standing over his hospital bed. They too were searching for Jesse and his Black Nova helmet.[2] After discovering Jesse's helmet, Richard Rider began to teach Sam how to use a Nova helmet. While training with Richard Rider, Sam flew to the Moon.[4] There, he had an encounter with Uatu The Watcher who showed him an incoming Chitauri armada that was headed towards Earth. Sam was trained by both Richard Rider how to properly use his helmet in order to one day live up to his father's legacy. He was eventually able to beat them both and was deemed worthy to apprehend the Watcher's task. They sent Sam as a scout to gather information on the invading force. Right when he found the Chitauri, somewhere near Jupiter, they fired, leaving Sam "unconscious."[12] When the Chitauri went to extract Sam into their ship, he revealed to them he was faking and quickly sped off. He went through one of the enemy ships and found the Ultimate Nullifier. He took it and then attempted to run through the mothership, disabling all soldiers. He was thwarted by Titus, a former Nova and ally of his father.
