Will Poulter, who has appeared in such movies as Midsommar, We're the Millers, and Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, will be playing Adam Warlock in James Gunn's upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, according to Deadline. The role was hinted at in the post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and reportedly, Gunn has been searching for the right actor to play the role since the end of August. Recently, Poulter has appeared in Barry Jenkins' Amazon Prime Video series The Underground Railroad and will be seen next in Hulu's Dopesick miniseries.
So who is Adam Warlock? At the end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Ayesha, played by Elizabeth Debicki, presented a Birth Pod, stating "That, my child, is the next step in our evolution. More powerful. More beautiful. More capable of destroying the Guardians of the Galaxy." In the comics, Adam Warlock was created by scientists who were trying to create the perfect being. Gunn has said that Adam Warlock is one of his favorite character, and both Gunn and Kevin Feige have previously said that Adam Warlock will be important to the cosmic side of the MCU.
There's quite a bit of Guardians of the Galaxy content on the way in the near future, as Square Enix's Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy video game will be released on October 26, and in 2022, we can expect The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, written and directed by Gunn and coming to Disney+. Gunn has recently that the Christmas special will introduce "one of the greatest MCU characters of all time." Could we get a sneak peek at Poulter's Adam Warlock in this Christmas special?
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is scheduled to be released on May 5, 2023. Check out James Gunn's tweet about the announcement below.