How Guardians Of The Galaxy 2 Set Up Vol. 3's Adam Warlock

Will Poulter has been cast as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - and here's how his MCU debut was set up in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Originally known simply as "Him," Adam Warlock was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby back in 1967 - but in truth he was dramatically redesigned by Roy Thomas and Jim Starlin some five years later. He's considered one of Marvel's most powerful cosmic heroes, one of the few beings able to go toe-to-toe with Thanos the Mad Titan.

Will Poulter has been cast as Adam Warlock for James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, following an extensive search that reportedly saw Marvel consider the likes of Regé-Jean Page (Bridgerton) and George MacKay (1917). Gunn, who tends to shoot down rumors on social media, took to Twitter to publicly confirm the casting and welcome Poulter into the Guardians. It's generally viewed as something of an unconventional choice; fans of Adam Warlock were initially wary when Poulter's name was first linked with the character, but have swiftly been won over by Gunn's positivity.

It's long been clear Adam Warlock was destined to appear in the MCU, with a glimpse of the birthing pod traditionally associated with the character in the Collector's vault in Guardians of the Galaxy. But the real setup occurred in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which introduced an alien race known as the Sovereign who practiced advanced genetic engineering in order to create the perfect society. "Every citizen is born exactly as designed by the community," their high priestess Ayesha explained. "Impeccable, both physically and mentally. We control the DNA of our progeny, germinating them in birthing pods." Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's post-credits revealed Ayesha had created a new generation of Sovereign, one being born in a shimmering golden birthing pod, and she decided to name him "Adam." In the comics, Ayesha is the "Her" to Adam Warlock's "Him," the Eve to his Adam, so this was pretty clear setup.

The golden sarcophagus as seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, possibly containing Adam Warlock

This is a very different origin story to the comics, where Adam Warlock was created by human scientists, and it's important to note it doesn't necessarily establish Adam Warlock as a hero. In fact, Ayesha explicitly stated she was creating him as the ultimate weapon with which to destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy. Still, it's reasonable to assume Adam Warlock will reject Ayesha's guidance and blaze his own trail; the comic book version is so cosmically powerful he often considers himself beyond good and evil, orchestrating events to ensure the best possible outcome for the universe. That agenda may well have to change quite a bit, though, because in the comics Adam Warlock is associated with Thanos and the Infinity Stones; Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones in Avengers: Endgame, so the character will have to be taken in a very different direction. This potentially explains the surprising decision to cast Will Poulter for the role.

Gunn intends Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to serve as the end of the road for this iteration of the team, and he's suggested future movies would feature new Guardians. It's possible Adam Warlock will wind up serving as the leader of the next generation of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and if so they will be operating on a very different power level to the current group. Hopefully it won't be long before Marvel confirms more details about Adam Warlock's role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

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