New Image Of Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

Will Poulter’s Adam Warlock will Cause Trouble in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

The character, long established in Marvel Comics, was teased at the end of ;Thor: The Dark World and now will be an antagonist in ‘Vol. 3’.

Marvel Comics' Adam Warlock. Photo courtesy of Marvel.com.

If you’ve watched the moody trailer for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’, you’ll know that the third ‘Guardians’ outing, once again written and directed by James Gunn, promises to be an emotional capper to at least this incarnation of the team.

Though Gunn insists that it’s not some huge cull that will leave everyone permanently off the board (particularly as, thanks to their participation in the ‘Avengers’ movies, they’re important to the fabric of the MCU), it seems like we’ll be saying goodbye to more than one member (and comments by Dave Bautista about leaving Drax behind makes us suspect he could either die heroically or sail off somewhere else in the universe).

And one of the biggest issues that the Guardians––Bautista’s Drax, Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora, Karen Gillan’s Nebula and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis, plus CG characters Rocket Racoon (brought to life by Sean Gunn in performance capture and voiced by Bradley Cooper) and Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel)––will face is Adam Warlock, played by British actor Will Poulter.

Created by gold-hued Sovereign leader Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) after the Guardians double-crossed her in ‘Vol. 2’, Warlock promises that this prime example of the Sovereign race will destroy our morally changeable heroes. He’s a powerful warrior… But is he entirely a bad guy?

“It’s kind of more complicated than that,” Gunn tells Empire. “But he’s definitely not a good guy. What we’re seeing is the infant form of Warlock, newly out of the cocoon, and he does not understand life very well. He’s basically a baby.”

Will Poulter as Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.' Photo courtesy of Empire Magazine.

After a long search for the right actor to bring him to life, Gunn settled on Poulter, known for films such as the ‘Maze Runner’ movies and, more recently, horror title ‘Midsommar’.

“People online were saying, ‘Oh, Tom Cruise should be Adam Warlock,’” says Gunn. “I wanted somebody who was youthful, and I wanted the person who had the dramatic chops and the comedic chops, not only for this movie but for what Marvel will use Adam Warlock for in the future. He could become this really important character.”

Yes, in true Marvel style, Warlock looks to be hanging around the MCU for a while yet, and he’ll certainly be handy for the future of the Multiverse Saga, which is the overarching title for Phases four, five and six.

For now, though, we’ll have to wait and see how Warlock pans out in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’, which will also feature Chukwudi Iwuji as The High Evolutionary, who promises to be even more of a problem for our heroes.

With Maria Bakalova, Nico Santos, Michael Rosenbaum, Daniela Melchior and the returning likes of Sylvester Stallone and Sean Gunn (in his other, live-action role as Kraglin), ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be in theaters on May 5th.