“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” marks the end of James Gunn’s irreverent, heart-warming space trilogy with the titular Guardians facing off against an enemy that’s sure to leave them, and us, in tears. Be sure to check out our breakdown of the High Evolutionary if you’re interested to know more about the film’s main baddie.
While we look forward to seeing how the film wraps up the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) most dysfunctional alien family, we’re also keen to learn more about Will Poulter’s debut in the franchise as Adam Warlock. Teased at the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”, Warlock will be going up against our merry band of anti-heroes under the command of Ayesha and the Sovereign (the golden people from the last film).
So is that all he is? A shiny, superpowered obstacle for the Guardians to blast through? Hell no, especially if the MCU plans on keeping him around till the end of the “Multiverse Saga”. Warlock wields cosmic and magical powers that have the potential to rival that of Doctor Strange, Wanda Maximoff, Captain Marvel and even the Watcher. Stick with us as we break down why Adam Warlock just might be the key to saving the Marvel multiverse!
A Master of Magic and Time
Now, we obviously know that the MCU tends to play it rather fast and loose with their characters’ powers. Sometimes, they depict insanely powerful characters like the Scarlet Witch to be as accurate as their comic book counterpart. Other times, they’ll nerf powerhouses like the Dweller in Darkness into B-plot villains or give upgrades to characters like Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel. For Adam Warlock, we believe that Marvel Studios will omit some of his more god-like powers due to them stemming from his ability to draw power from the Soul Gem. That being said, there’s one particular power that “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” cannot separate from Adam Warlock’s comic book history: Quantum Magic.
In the comics, he previously needed the Soul Gem to be able to cast spells and manipulate spiritual and metaphysical energies but then he learned and achieved the power of Quantum Magic, which is not reliant on the gem. On top of his super-human physique, Adam Warlock imbued with Quantum Magic has telekinesis, telepathy, energy manipulation, pyrokinesis, magical abilities and most importantly chronokinesis. That’s right, with enough practice and time (pun intended), Warlock could use Quantum Magic to not only travel between timelines but to change them at his will. Doctor Strange could perform similar feats of power with the Time Stone. However, if the MCU decides to follow through with Adam Warlock’s cosmic powers, he won’t even need the Infinity Stone.
His magical abilities also grant him matter and reality manipulation but probably not to the degree of Scarlet Witch’s powers. Nonetheless, Warlock could still prove to be a powerful ally for the heroes of the MCU. Especially since they’re facing off against one very pesky time traveller with a bad habit of not dying: Kang the Conqueror.
Can He Defeat Kang?
As mentioned in the season finale of “Loki”, the problem with Kang the Conqueror isn’t that he’s just a hyper-intelligent, powerful mastermind. There is also a seemingly endless ocean of Variants of him waiting to take his place if one Kang falls. In the trailer for “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”, we see that Kang has been amassing an army and preparing for an invasion within the Quantum Realm. A line throughout the trailer states: “witness the beginning of a new dynasty”. The line is alluding to the future “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty” film which is based on the comic-book story in which Kang, along with multiple versions of himself, invades Earth-616 and conquers it.
So how do you defeat an enemy that can call upon Variants from other universes and manipulate the flow of time in his own universe? Well, it turns out that Adam Warlock is just the man for the job. When Warlock fell to the dark side and became the Magus, he managed to use Quantum Magic to manipulate the timeline to ensure that no matter what anyone did, he would win. He wasn’t drawing on the power of the Infinity Gems during that time. No, it was all him! Warlock at full strength is nothing to scoff at and with the help of the new Avengers alongside other teams like the Fantastic Four and Guardians, he can definitely go toe-to-toe with the likes of Kang the Conqueror. Of course, all this is contingent on one very important question.
Will He Survive “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”?
No matter how big of an MCU fan you are, it cannot be denied that the franchise has an annoying habit of killing off some of its most compelling characters within the span of a single film. Think Killmonger from “Black Panther”, Mysterio from “Spider-Man: Far From Home” and Quicksilver from “Avengers: Age of Ultron”. Oh, and if you’re a fan of Jonathan Hickman’s “Infinity” comic book series, then you know what they did to Corvus Glaive and the members of the Black Order was utterly disrespectful! So when we heard Warlock was making his appearance in the MCU, we were simultaneously excited and nervous. Will the MCU ruin the character the way they did with Taskmaster in “Black Widow” or will they do justice to his character…only to have him get the axe?
While we’re quite certain that someone will indeed die at the end of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (check out our High Evolutionary breakdown for the answer), we know for a fact that it won’t be Adam Warlock. James Gunn in an interview with Empire stated that he chose actor Will Poulter because of his wide acting range and that “you can imagine him being a handy person to have on the board in the upcoming Multiverse Saga”. You heard it from the director himself. Poulter’s Adam Warlock is here to stay, and is a character to look out for throughout Marvel’s “Multiverse Saga”.
For more details about “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, Adam Warlock and the MCU, be sure to stay tuned with us!
