First Look at Adam Warlock in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

“The galaxy still needs its guardians,” (Quill) the protectors of the cosmos are back for one last mission, from visionary director James Gunn comes the final installment of the franchise. The brand-new trailer for Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 just debuted at Brazil Comic Con resulting in emotional reactions from fans. The film, set to release in theaters May 5, 2023, will explore Rocket Raccoon’s (Bradley Cooper) origins, introduce viewers to the super-being Adam Warlock, and bring the return of Zoe Saldaña’s Gamora. From being Marvel's unknown team for non-comic book readers, Gunn has successfully brought to life an entire franchise making Guardians one of the most memorable and solid MCU properties.

Our favorite team of misfits return for what looks to be an emotional ending to the franchise. The trailers revealed a lot of what’s to come, from Adam Warlock to the Bowie, to sporting original suits, more Cosmo, and the big bad High Evolutionary. Still reeling from the loss of Gamora, Peter Quill, aka the legendary Star-Lord, rallies his team to defend the universe and one of their own — a mission that could mean the end of the Guardians if not successful. Gamora is finally making a reappearance after the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame; we also meet Rocket Raccoon’s love interest, the adorable otter, in the MCU version of Lady Lylla. Rocket also has frightening memories of his past and the team prepares for an important final mission.

The trailer finally revealed Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) who was first teased in the post-credits scene of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” In the comics, Warlock is an all-powerful artificial being created to destroy the Guardians of the Galaxy. He is most likely going to be reinvented thoroughly for the MCU, based off how drastic the Golden High Priestess Ayesha’s (Elizabeth Debicki) live-adaptation differed from the comics. Following the Battle on Ego's Planet, Ayesha feared the Sovereign Council would seek to punish her for her humiliating defeat at the hands of the Guardians of the Galaxy, which resulted in the destruction of an entire fleet of Omnicrafts. However, Ayesha remained confident in still being able to exact vengeance against the Guardians. Using an advanced Birth Pod (incubators used by the Sovereign to procreate), Ayesha began creating a being capable of defeating the Guardians. While showing the Birth Pod to her chambermaid, Ayesha decided to name her creation Adam.'

Although Warlock was expected to be a villain, it appears that Chukwudi Iwuji’s character, the High Evolutionary, will be the main villain, a superhuman ultra-intelligent being who created Rocket. The movie is probably going to have a large focus on Rocket and High Evolutionary, and give us a lot more into Rocket’s past.

The trailer opens with the Guardians stepping off their new ship “The Bowie” (Gunn has tons of David Bowie references and tributes) after landing on a new planet full of animal-like aliens. Drax engages in a hilarious first interaction with the beings sparking an unwelcoming entrance. In case you didn’t watch The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (get going!), the team’s new ship is named “The Bowie.” As in the legendary David Bowie, whose blazing “Moonage Daydream” appeared on the first Awesome Mix and who James Gunn once hoped would appear in a Guardians flick.

“We’ll all fly away together one last time, into the forever — that beautiful sky,” Rocket shouts dismally as the Guardians are facing a massive tentacle monster with Adam Warlock pummeling Nebula. Another moment that has fans getting emotional is Groot, who’s known for only saying “I am Groot,” shouting “We are Groot” as he sprouts extra arms and blasts lasers back-to-back with Star-Lord.

The film will see many familiar faces returning, including Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Groot, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Sean Gunn as Kraglin and Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha. Also joining the film is “Borat 2” star Maria Balakova, who plays Cosmo the Space Dog and gets some extra camera time in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. Gunn is returning to write and direct the third film before leaving the MCU and heading up DC Studios as its co-CEO.

While it has been five years since the Guardians had a solo film with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” they have made appearances in other Marvel films since then. They just starred in Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special,” had a short appearance in Taika Waititi’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” and they also were instrumental in the mega-team-up films “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.”

Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. Only in theaters May 5, 2023.