After being teased in one of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's post-credits scenes, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) finally made his big-screen debut in Vol. 3.
Although the character was integral to the plot in some respects and did have a couple of big moments to shine, many felt that he seemed somewhat shoehorned in to the movie, and, despite Poulter's performance coming in for a lot of praise, Warlock has proved to be one of the more divisive elements of James Gunn's threequel.
During an interview with iO9, Gunn revealed that integrating Adam and his Sovereign "mother" Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki) into the story proved very difficult, and admitted that he "did feel pressure" to include the character after setting him up in Vol. 2.
Whether that pressure was self-applied or came from Marvel Studios higher-ups is unclear, but we've heard that Gunn was pretty much given free rein on this film, so we're leaning towards the former.
Spoilers follow.
Adam ends up saving Star-Lord at the end of Vol. 3 and joins the new team under Captain Rocket, giving this next incarnation of the Guardians a powerful heavy-hitter. Whether Poulter will get the opportunity to reprise the role remains to be seen, but if there is a Vol. 4, it won't be with Gunn at the helm.
"In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past." "Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them."
Gunn writes and directs Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, featuring Vin Diesel as Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Sean Gunn, Chukwudi Iwuji, Will Poulter, and Maria Bakalova. Kevin Feige is the producer and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nikolas Korda, Simon Hatt, and Sara Smith serve as executive producers.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is now in theaters.