Why Guardians of the Galaxy Movies Have Two Different Adam Warlock Teases

Screen Rant

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2's Adam Warlock setup retconned the Easter Egg from the first movie. Here's why there were two different teases.

The Guardians of the Galaxy movies offered conflicting teases regarding the MCU debut of Adam Warlock. The classic Marvel Comics superhero and archenemy of Thanos missed out on the battle with the Mad Titan over the fate of the universe and the Infinity Stones – his biggest story from the comic books – but the way has been cleared for him to officially appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) delivered the Reality Stone to the Collector (Benecio del Toro) in the post-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World, a large cocoon could be spotted in his collection. Its appearance drew comparisons to the one that Adam Warlock emerged from in the comics, and it appeared again in Guardians of the Galaxy. In one of the post-credits scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the leader of the golden-skinned Sovereigns stood before a different cocoon and referred to its occupant as “Adam”, and revealed her plan to unleash him on Star-Lord’s team. This was the MCU’s first direct reference to the Golden Gladiator from Marvel Comics.

It also contradicted the previous Adam Warlock Easter egg. In 2014, James Gunn confirmed that the cocoon in Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor 2 was Adam Warlock’s, but clarified when the sequel released that it actually belonged to a member of Warlock’s species. This effectively retconned the first tease. The implication of the first one was that Adam already existed and could be born at any time, while the second dropped his name and gave him a specific purpose. As for why Marvel included two separate Adam Warlock teases, the reason can be explained by James Gunn’s interest in directly setting up Warlock having a role in Marvel’s future.

The first tease didn’t really accomplish that since it was more of an Easter egg than anything else, but the second one did. Gunn explained that the post-credits Adam Warlock scene was included in order to “create a space for him that would have to be filled” at some point in the future. It may never have been necessary to revisit the cocoon in the Collector’s possession, but the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cocoon has created a loose end that needs to be tied up.

The most obvious place for him would of course be Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, since the second movie revealed that the team would be his first targets. Of course, Marvel can still use him if Gunn determines that he doesn’t fit into the third installment. Marvel has other cosmic movies in the pipeline where Adam Warlock could fit, such as Thor: Love and Thunder. As of Avengers: Endgame, Thor is currently with the Guardians, so it would make sense for Warlock to find them when they’re still in Thor’s company. Alternatively, Marvel can wait and make him a member of the next team in Guardians of the Galaxy 4.

More: Every Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie