Why Is Adam Warlock Even in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3?

This article contains full spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now in theaters, and it feels like an example of something that’s become all too rare in this age of superhero blockbuster franchises: a real ending. The incarnation of the team we were introduced to almost a decade ago in 2014 has disbanded, and while all of the principal members survived, the way the film ends makes it quite clear that these characters have moved on from being a tight-knit group.

Yet amidst all these personal journeys coming to a close, one new character was introduced, who also winds up having the most perplexing role of all: Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock. The cosmic hero made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Vol. 3 as an antagonist who ends up being part of the new lineup of Guardians by the end-credits scene. But even with that arc, Adam rarely feels like a critical part of what’s going on, leaving us wondering why the MCU bothered adapting the character at all. What happened here? Let’s take a look.

Adam Warlock: A Delayed Debut

When it became clear that the MCU’s first three Phases were going to revolve around the Infinity Stones, many comic fans naturally assumed that Adam Warlock was going to play a part in that story. Adam may have had his beginnings in the pages of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four book in 1967, but the character only really came into his own under the stewardship of Jim Starlin. Starlin revitalized Adam in the mid-1970s as part of his ongoing cosmic saga involving Captain Marvel, Thanos, and the Infinity Gems (their name in the comics). He connected Adam to that story by making him the keeper of the Soul Gem, which was embedded in his forehead. Adam would then play a major role in Starlin’s iconic 1991 event The Infinity Gauntlet (the primary source material for Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame), as well as the follow-up events Infinity War and Infinity Crusade, and the ongoing series Warlock and the Infinity Watch.

Yet despite being teased in the post-credits scene of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 with Ayesha looking at his cocoon, Adam Warlock was not involved in the MCU’s Infinity Saga. It was an odd choice for fans of the comics, but most likely a prudent one from a filmmaking standpoint, since even with its epic runtime, Infinity War was already stuffed with dozens of named characters that audiences were more familiar with. Adam would have required a lot of exposition to explain who he was and how his powers worked, and on top of that, they already had a character with an Infinity Stone in his forehead with Vision! Given that the filmmakers decided to have Thanos himself act as arguably the main character of Infinity War, it seems there wasn’t any room for Adam.

Introducing Adam now when it appears the MCU is well and truly done with the Infinity Stones begs the question of what his new role is going to be.

That would be fine, but introducing Adam now when it appears the MCU is well and truly done with the Infinity Stones begs the question of what his new role is going to be. His other major stories from the comics include him being a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as his ongoing battle with his evil future self, the Magus, who is also the leader of the Universal Church of Truth. The new Guardians team led by Rocket Raccoon could battle the Magus in a hypothetical Vol. 4, but the mid-credits scene with that team feels more like an epilogue to show that Rocket has fully embraced his new role as leader of the Guardians, not a deliberate promise of another Guardians film. But even as part of this one film, Adam doesn’t feel like he has much of a place, and that’s largely because his introduction is happening at a time when we’re supposed to be saying goodbye to the rest of the characters around him.

Guardians Vol. 3: Beginning at the End

As mentioned earlier, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is clearly being pitched as a finale not just to the Guardians trilogy, but to the majority of the cast this franchise was built around. The post-credits scene does tease that Star-Lord at least will return in the future, but many of the other Guardians appear to have wrapped up their time in the MCU. Given that writer-director James Gunn is leaving Marvel to run the DCU over at Warner Bros., the movie has a finality to it that we rarely see in the interconnected MCU. This makes it all the more odd that Adam Warlock, one of the biggest characters from the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe (and a principal member of the team in the 2008 Guardians of the Galaxy comic by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning that the MCU version is based on), is only showing up at the end of the trilogy.

Now, there’s no hard and fast rule that you can’t introduce major characters in the final installment of a film series. But because Vol. 3 has to wrap up the character arcs for all of the Guardians we already know, the movie has so many moving pieces that Adam often feels like he’s getting lost in the shuffle. Between multiple flashbacks to Rocket’s backstory, addressing the new version of Gamora from Avengers: Endgame and her relationship with Star-Lord, introducing and explaining the High Evolutionary and Counter-Earth, and giving critical character development to Drax, Mantis and Nebula, there is little down time even in a movie that’s already running two and a half hours long. It makes sense that Gunn would prioritize the characters we’re already invested in, but then why shortchange Adam by including him so haphazardly?

If anything, Adam’s appearance in Vol. 3 feels like it’s being done out of obligation. He had already been teased in the post-credits scene of Vol. 2, ergo, he must appear in Vol. 3. But did he really? He’s not the main antagonist. He doesn’t significantly impact the plot; nor does he have a strong narrative or thematic connection to Rocket, who is basically our main character. Even his big hero moment in the finale of saving Star-Lord from dying in the vacuum of space feels like it would be more appropriate for Gamora to perform given that she’s the one who has been slowly coming to understand and care about him, even if not to the same extent as the previous version of herself. But beyond all that, Adam also feels adrift in the other choices made in adapting his character, who is far removed from his comic interpretation.

A Missing Messiah and a Magus

In the comics, Adam Warlock is genetically engineered to be a perfect being by an evil group of human scientists called the Enclave. He escapes from their villainous machinations to discover himself in space, eventually becoming a powerful cosmic hero. The iconography and symbolism baked into the character is filled with religious allusions, with Warlock often being portrayed as a messiah figure. His evil self from the future, the Magus, is a villain of intergalactic proportions who literally leads an evil church bent on conquering the universe. Adam offers guidance and wisdom to his fellow heroes, but also struggles with the weight of his cosmic significance and the potential for him to eventually fall to the dark side and become the Magus.

Very little of this made the transition into the MCU. Besides being genetically engineered and having superpowers, he bears little resemblance to his comic counterpart outside of his appearance. Fans of the source material will know that the Guardians characters were heavily altered for the films, but that has generally worked out for James Gunn because they were obscure characters and audiences became invested in these new interpretations. But turning Adam Warlock into just another generic doofus so he could fit in with the pre-established tone of the Guardians films feels like a missed opportunity to make him distinct from the rest of the cast. It’s like Warlock has been wasted in the MCU not just because he is popping up too late, but because he doesn’t even feel like himself now that he finally has arrived.

The way Adam is shoehorned into a movie that didn’t really need him even highlights the MCU’s growing problems with its own timeline. James Gunn previously stated that Vol. 2 is set in the same year as Vol. 1, which is 2014. But if Guardians 3 apparently takes place “a couple years” after Endgame, then the five-year time jump in that film means that Vol. 3 takes place at least 11 years after Vol. 2. This means that Ayesha waited well over a decade to get revenge on the Guardians and still didn’t feel that Adam was ready, despite him gestating in his cocoon all the way back in 2014. That her revenge scheme then gets supplanted by the High Evolutionary in a wonky retcon that makes him the creator of the Sovereign before she’s unceremoniously blown up (justice for tall queen Elizabeth Debicki) makes this whole subplot feel superfluous.

The obvious thematic parallel between Rocket and Adam – that they are both creations of the High Evolutionary – isn’t even used in Adam’s redemption, since Groot is the one who offers him a second chance, not Rocket. All this adds up to make Adam feel like a tangent in a film that already had too much going on. Messing up Adam Warlock doesn’t in any way make Guardians Vol. 3 a bad film, but it certainly didn’t do any favors for this long-standing Marvel hero.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can follow his fixations on Twitter.