James Gunn has offered his defense for the delayed introduction of Adam Warlock to the MCU, comparing it to the slow-burn reveal of Thanos. Even without considering all the characters that Sony and 20th Century Fox own the rights to, Marvel Studios still has thousands of characters they’ve yet to adapt to the big or small screen. But when it comes to some of the major faces from the comics, Adam Warlock is one hero fans have been begging to see join the action. And according to comments Gunn made last, Adam Warlock is part of Phase 4.

Knowing Warlock will debut in Phase 4 is hardly surprising considering how much he’s been hinted at both on and off screen. The post-credits scene of Thor: The Dark World even teased his signature cocoon, though Gunn claims that’s an ancient Sovereign cocoon and not one housing Warlock. That can’t be said about the one seen in one of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’s many end credits scenes, however, as that moment definitively introduced the nascent version of Warlock to the MCU. But with word that the character won’t be showing up in the near future, some have wondered what the point of the scene was.

When a fan posed the question to James Gunn about why Adam Warlock was teased if he’s not on the verge of debuting in full, the director had a fitting response that makes even more sense in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War’s success.

As Gunn points out, Thanos was teased all the way back in The Avengers before truly debuting in Guardians of the Galaxy. Even then, it wasn’t until this year’s Avengers 3 that he finally got his due. While some worried it wouldn’t be worth the build-up, Josh Brolin’s performance as Thanos has been hailed as one of the film’s highlights. For the average moviegoer, the Adam Warlock teases don’t mean much, but even fans have to admit there’s something satisfying about the character slowly being seeded in the MCU before making his big debut.

For now, we know Adam Warlock isn’t in Avengers 4. Gunn has claimed Adam Warlock isn’t in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, either, meaning even the early part of Phase 4 won’t feature the character. But we’ve heard for awhile now that the cosmic side of the MCU will be expanding in the coming years and there’s little doubt that Warlock will eventually be a part of that.

Though we don’t know much about what will follow Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we have our predictions for the MCU Phase 4. Chief among them is the idea of a movie loosely based around Infinity Watch that would see Adam Warlock and other cosmic characters protecting the universe from Thanos-sized threats. We’ll have to wait until after Avengers 4 to learn more about the future of the MCU, but expect Adam Warlock to be a big part of it—once he’s finally revealed.

MORE: New Characters Marvel Is Developing For After Avengers 4

Source: James Gunn

  • spider-man homecoming 2 Release Date: 2019-07-02 The Avengers 4 Release Date: 2019-04-26 Ant-Man 2 Release Date: 2018-07-06 captain marvel Release Date: 2019-03-08