Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 left audiences with more questions than answers, especially with its five mid and post-credit scenes. While some were fun goofs, most were significant one-shots setting up Vol. 3 and beyond. In fact, writer-director James Gunn suggests that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 lays the groundwork for the next decade of Marvel movies.
Introducing Adam Warlock
One post-credit scene, in particular, stands out as both the most important and the most confusing. High Priestess Ayesha, the leader of the gold-skinned Sovereign people, reveals a new birthing chamber that she believes will be the next stage of her species’ evolution. With it, she has created the perfect being, one that she knows will be able to kill the Guardians of the Galaxy. And with a thin smile, she names him Adam.
Unless you are well versed in Marvel comic lore, this is a massive head-scratching note to leave the theater on. Who is Adam? What is going on?
Adam Warlock: A Cosmic Enigma
Ayesha’s Adam is actually the superhero Adam Warlock, variously referred to in the comics as the “Master of All Souls,” the “Avatar of Life,” the “Ultimate Avenger” and the “God Slayer.” He is unquestionably one of the most powerful characters that Marvel saw fit to print.
As with the movie, the comics version of Adam Warlock was designed by a group of scientists to be the pinnacle of evolution. After destroying the lab that birthed him and being nearly beaten to death by Thor, he spun into a cocoon and emerged in an even more powerful form.
Adam Warlock and the Soul Gem
In his new form, he was given the Soul Gem — notably the one Infinity Stone still unaccounted for leading up into Infinity War — which only further served to amplify his powers. He traveled the galaxy as one of the comic publisher’s premier cosmic heroes: fighting everybody from Dr. Doom to Thanos.
He eventually collected the other five Infinity Gems and the Infinity Gauntlet to house them in, becoming functionally omnipotent, although he eventually divided the Gems between the newly formed Infinity Watch: a team consisting of himself, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Drax the Destroyer, Moondragon, and Thanos.
Adam Warlock’s Impact on the Marvel Cinematic Universe
So while his reveal in one of Vol. 2‘s many post-credit scenes might have seemed “business as usual” for Marvel, it’s probably the company’s most important reveal outside of Nick Fury telling Iron Man about the Avengers Initiative. Not only is he the presumptive villain for the next Guardians of the Galaxy, but likely an integral player in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. He’s also the likeliest place for the Soul Stone to reside in the MCU, which is one of the mega-franchises biggest remaining mysteries.
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