Soooo, this has been debunked now. RIP this video.

There's Monkey's Paw wishes, and then there's whatever the hell Nova was doing in Air Riders.

My guess as to why Meta Knight's wish was granted in a straight way even under the "Nova is evil" interpretation, is because Nova fully expected Galacta Knight to win.
Star Dream mentions how the battle might destroy a planet or 2 when it summons galacta again, he has the reputation of the strongest in the galaxy, and it wouldn't be a stretch to assume he would want some form of retribution for being sealed away. If Galacta wins, there's now a very furious unstoppable warrior roaming the galaxy freely.

"I wish to rule Popstar"
Attempts to kill everyone
"I wish to see my daughter"
Attempts to kill everyone
"I wish to move"
Attempts to kill everyone

Are we sure these things grant wishes?

one thing to note, galacta knight is said to be capable of destroying planets. I believe that meta knight's wish wasn't corrupted, because granting it honestly would have destroyed the planet

“Can I have an ice cream?”

Galactic Nova: “Snow storm for endless years.”

"I wanna have friends"
Galactic Nova: "Commit Mass genocide and get locked up for all eternity"

"I want some milk"
Galatctic Nova: "DRONES, CONSTRUCT AN EXPLOSIVE LARGE ENOUGH TO DESTROY ALL OF POPSTAR AND SEND IT'S FRAGMENTS DEEP INTO THE MILKYWAY."

I've always interpreted Zorah's seemingly innocent wish of being able to move as being tainted by a strong hatred for the life it was stuck with. I mean it wouldn't be too farfetched to assume Zorah hated life and hated being subjected to it's existence. Even if he never had the particular desire to end all of popstar specifically, perhaps it was the hatred he had that led to Nova's interpretation of his wish into something world ending. Maybe something like "okay I hear you, you want to move. But I also see you hate your life so I'll make it so you destroy the planet once you're capable of moving"

Of course without in game lore descriptions, we lack the information to confirm or reject any theories

Kirby Air riders completely recontextualised everything about Nova is Super star.

Or Sakurai wasn’t thinking of the lore implications at all and just thought it was cool.

Relevant points I'd like to add:
1. Nova's somewhat incomplete appearance suggests it can travel across the multiverse and visit different timelines.
2. No Clockwork Star can magically create things; there's a whole manufacturing process involved, which diminishes much of the mystique it once possessed.
3. When Nova and Lord Starcutter are reconstructed, a type of beam or electricity appears that reassembles these machines. This same phenomenon occurs in portals created by the Ancients. In Forgotten Land, the Lightron Company is specifically mentioned as working in electrology.
4. Wondaria is more relevant than many realize. The fact that this park's symbol is a globe and features adorable creatures speaks volumes about them, as does their fascination with astrology. This would explain why many seemingly cute objects possess enormous destructive potential and have names related to cosmic phenomena. And just as Halcandra is full of globes, the Halcans liked to build things in reference to that park, perhaps because it was their hope when they traveled to "A New World"
5. Nova is related to dreams, and everything connected to them is star-shaped, the same star-shaped elements that create the ship he uses to fight Nova. This is one of the four materials that make up the Kirby multiverse. The twinkling stars appear when you defeat Astral Void and Elfilis. Perhaps Nova was created from the core of similar beings in a primordial state.
6. I believe Nova isn't inherently evil; he isn't conditioned by his programming, which was created by the Ancients. This civilization is linked to large-scale armed conflicts, as evidenced by the robots in the HR series and, above all, the Master Crown, an object that collects the evil and obsessions of previous rulers. Kumazaki mentioned on Miiverse that Haltmann was aware that Star Dream consumed users' memories, which is why it was deactivated.
I'm fascinated by this lore and how things from the past can be recontextualized. I also have a channel talking about lore, but in Spanish. I hope to see your responses!

It's fascinating how one game completely changed the fandom's perception of Clockwork Stars from "mostly neutral" to "monkey's paw". Previously, when they tried to destroy everything, it was either out of a malicious wish (Marx) or from being incomplete (Star Dream), but in Air Riders? The wish is innocent, Nova works as intended, and yet it tried to wipe out Popstar again of its own will.
Even the wish to battle Galacta Knight could be seen in this light, since he was already powerful and could've easily destroyed a few planets if he hadn't been stopped by Meta Knight.

I personally think the Clockwork Stars are ancient planet-killing machines that have since been mistaken for wish-granters. Their purpose is specifically to destroy, and they perceive people's "wishes" as instructions on how/what to destroy.

The more vague the request, the more creative the star has to get when interpreting the order. I'm also guessing if you don't designate a target it defaults to the nearest one, hence why it keeps trying to blow up Popstar whenever summoned nearby.

2:44 I don't think "True Form" necessarily means that Marx always naturally had access to that form. Nova's power may have unlocked latent powers within Marx, greatly magnified existing abilities, or even granted entirely new powers that more truly reflect who Marx is in his heart (and/or how Marx views himself). Marx wouldn't even need great magical power to start a fight with the Sun & Moon either – I always assumed that he had simply kickstarted a petty feud between them over who was better or something.

0:29 Fun fact: Magolor explicitly using plural language to refer to "clockwork stars" is actually not present in Japanese, because in that language whether or not something is singular or plural is often completely vague (which means there was unfortunately no accurate way they could've translated this line into English, since it's pretty much impossible to avoid using either singular or plural).

Personally, the theory I subscribe to when it comes to why the clockwork stars all suck is just that most of the creations of the Ancients were war machines, and thus the clockwork stars likely are as well. Thus, they register all wishes through the lens of a war machine.

One wishes to rule a planet, the clockwork star will crush all opposition to one's reign.

One wishes to test their strength against the most powerful warrior in the galaxy, easy to understand for a war machine, the wish is granted as intended.

One wishes to move where they please, the clockwork star grants them the might to travel wherever with no way to stop them.

"This nova is galactic."

Theres Faustian Bargains. Then there's Nova's evil BS

I think Nova defines "wishes" as requests, and it's real purpose is to be a weapons factory,  whenever Nova processes a "wish", it creates a configuration based on his condition of producing or using logistics and weaponry.
Marx wishes to rule Dreamland, so Nova goes to conquer it and tribute it to him (you can even see this happening in the Nova track in air riders, him shooting what seems to be shiver star),  Meta knight wishes to fight the strongest warrior in the galaxy, so Nova reads the ancients archives and summons what he perceived as the strongest entity classified as "warrior" and uses his warp technology to bring him back,  fulfilling the request, the "wish".
Zora's was more complex and harder to fullfill, Nova can't create a body by himself, so he digs up the blueprints of gigantes, a machine that's compatible with Zorah, decides on recreating every step needed to make Zora's "wish" with no zero care for the collateral damage of it.

my fucked up headcanon about air riders is that, while reviving himself, marx accidentally absorbed some of Nova's wish granting processors, and when Nova received Zorah's wish, Marx got pinged about how to grant it and he just put whatever he thought was funny