James Gunn has confirmed how an easter egg from the original Guardians of the Galaxy connects to Sovereign and Adam Warlock. Back in 2014, the Guardians introduced the world to the cosmic arm of the MCU, bringing all manner of weird and wonderful ideas to the screen. Within that, though, one of the biggest absences was Him, better known as Adam Warlock.

When the first film hit, many believed it actually did contain a secret backstory to Warlock. In the background in the Collector's museum was a giant cocoon (first seen in Thor: The Dark World's mid-credits scene) not dissimilar to the one the hero was born out of in the comics. This was later shown in the stinger to have been opened, leading to many suggested that Howard the Duck's unexpected cameo was actually just a distraction from the scene's true purpose; confirmation Adam Warlock was out there. However, this was later denied and Vol. 2's post-credits scene revealed a totally different origin for "Adam". But easter egg hunters needn't fret - Gunn has now revealed this original cocoon still has a key part in the mythos.

The director was asked by a fan on Twitter about the purpose of the cocoon, to which he took the opportunity to reveal that it was actually a primitive version of the ones Sovereign used. This means that while it doesn't house Warlock, it was a precursor to the one that did eventually house him.

Update: Gunn has reiterated that that was Sovereign's cocoons.

In the comics, Adam Warlock is an immensely powerful being created to be the next step of human evolution who rose to the position of galactic protector. He's one of the most well-known elements of the cosmic Marvel universe, primarily due to his essential role in beating Thanos in the now-legendary Infinity Gauntlet event. This led to many people expecting him to appear in the build-up to Avengers: Infinity War, although Gunn has since confirmed that instead he'll be making his presence felt in Vol. 3.

While it's not clear when this solution to the cocoon easter egg-turned-mystery was conceived, it likely wasn't what Gunn originally had in mind. That said, the design of the advanced pod containing Adam in Vol. 2 and the rudimentary one from original film do share some similarities, so it may have played a part in the sequel's concept stage. Whatever the case, it's nice to see Marvel making the effort to tie everything together into their increasingly complex timeline.

It's worth noting that the original question posed to Gunn involved the possibility of the original cocoon containing Jean Grey as the Phoenix Force took over. This obviously can't happen in the MCU as the X-Men movie rights currently reside as Fox, with the studio actually planning a version of the comic arc in question in next year's X-Men: Dark Phoenix. That said, if Marvel ever did wind up reacquiring the rights it's possible they may retroactively make certain parts of the mythos mutant-related, similar to how the masked child in Iron Man 2 has now been identified as Peter Parker. Of course, as Fox recently set dates for Marvel-based movies up until 2021, this happening (if at all) is a long way off.

For now, while it's not quite clear how Warlock will factor into the MCU, with Gunn going to great pains to get the fan favorite right it's sure to be worth the wait (and misdirection).

Next: Is Adam Warlock the Main Antagonist Of Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3?

Source: James Gunn