"Call him Adam": Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 finds its Warlock with actor Will Poulter

We’ve been waiting a long time for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and while the film isn’t set to go into production until November, we now have news on who will be playing Adam Warlock, the potential villain in the movie.

According to Deadline, Will Poulter (The Maze Runner, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, The Revenant) has won the coveted role.

MCU fans have been patiently waiting to learn who would play the part ever since the post-credit scene from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, where the golden-skinned fascist, Ayesha, looks fondly at a cocoon containing another golden creature and says, “I think I will call him Adam.”

Marvel fans instantly recognized this as Adam Warlock, a superpowered “perfect man” who was more villainous than not in the comics. Gunn had reportedly started looking for someone to play the role sometime in August, with the part being at the top of the list for many a young male actor. Other actors who reportedly tried out for Warlock include Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton fame and George McKay, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film 1917.

In the end, Poulter won out. But even though we now know Warlock will be in Vol. 3, and that Poulter will play him, we know little else about the third Guardians movie — like all MCU films and shows, the plot of the movie has been kept closely under wraps. We’ll eventually find out what Poulter’s Warlock is all about, however, when the movie finally, finally premieres in theaters on May 5, 2023.