Adam Warlock is finally making his way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After previous attempts at Marvel Studios to get the character onto the big screen, it's now being reported that Will Poulter (The Maze Runner, Midsommar) will take on the role in James Gunn's upcoming sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Gunn personally confirmed the news by welcoming Poulter to the team with a post on Twitter.

"As you guys know I often strike down false rumors, so... um... Welcome to the Guardians family, Will Poulter," Gunn wrote. "He's an amazing actor and wonderful guy. See you in a couple weeks."

This appearance follows through with a previous tease of Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. A post-credit scene makes mention of an "Adam" and Gunn would later confirm his plans to bring in Adam Warlock for the third movie. Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame both almost came close to including the character in some fashion as well, but it's not until now that we know his inclusion in the MCU is finally happening.

Because Adam Warlock has been teased, there were fans wondering who might be best to play the part. Zac Efron was imagined in the role in some interesting artwork by BossLogic, but that casting wasn't meant to be. Days ago, the new rumor spread that Will Poulter had been cast, and while James Gunn likes to shut these things down ASAP when they're false, he had stayed uncharacteristically quiet. His new confirmation with the news spreading further makes it official.

A few years back, James Gunn still wasn't entirely sure he wanted to bring in Adam Warlock. In 2017, he took to Twitter to say that the character may need to "bake in that cocoon" for a while longer before that moment comes. Things have changed since when after Gunn took some time away from Marvel to develop The Suicide Squad for DC and Warner Bros. He has since said that he sees Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as the probable end of his Marvel run, so his time to bring in Adam Warlock is now or never if he wants to be the one to do it. He chose now, apparently.

"I had to fight for Adam in the post-credits sequence," Gunn wrote on Twitter at the time. "Because I really thought that's where that should go. And I thought one of the main reasons to have the Sovereign in the movie was to give audiences the hint that Adam Warlock is coming. That was one of the reasons for them to exist. And I wrote that post-credits sequence in the first draft of the script. And then there were a lot of questions about whether or not we should put that in there, because people were going to expect Adam Warlock in Infinity War."

Will Poulter is known for his breakout role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He is also recognized for other roles including The Maze Runner and its sequel, The Revenant, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, and Midsommar. He was at one point set to play Pennywise in the It movies before the role later went to Bill Skarsgard. Last year, Poulter had a starring role in the interactive video game The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will be released in theaters on May 5, 2023. It will be preceded by The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ in 2022. This news comes to us from The Hollywood Reporter.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/guardians-of-the-galaxy-3-adam-warlock-will-poulter-1235029891/