Adam Warlock Could Bring the Infinity Stones Back to the MCU

Early in his travels, Warlock became the protector of Counter-Earth, an idealized version of Earth (still within the 616 universe) created by High Evolutionary. To aid Warlock’s quest, High Evolutionary gave Warlock the Soul Gem, embedded in his forehead. The Soul Gem served as a temptation object for Thomas’s Christ narrative, as it made Warlock destructive and vengeful. While that would be bad for any hero seeking inner peace, corruption was a keen concern for Warlock, who regularly clashed against Magus, an evil version of himself from the future with an unlikely purple afro. 

When he took over the character, writer Jim Starlin used the power and peril presented by the Soul Gem to craft an epic about the nature of the universe. Starlin moved Warlock off of Counter-Earth and brought the hero into conflict with Thanos, a character he created while writing Iron Man. As the duo debated issues of life and death, Thanos discovered the Soul Gem to be just one of the Infinity Gems and eventually used them to kill half the universe in the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries. 

Since Infinity Gauntlet, Warlock has mostly been the protector of the Gems, often with the help of Gamora, Drax, and other cosmic characters. Sometimes, Warlock’s embrace of inner peace makes him the ideal protector. But when Warlock’s evil side takes over and he becomes the Magus, it’s hard to think of a worse custodian of ultimate power. 

How Will Warlock Affect the MCU?

Thus far, we’ve only heard Adam’s name spoken in the MCU when Ayesha of the Sovereign names her creation in a post-credit sequence in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. We already know that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will not only feature Poulter’s Warlock, but also Chukwudi Iwuji (Peacemaker) as the big bad High Evolutionary. Leaked set photos seem to feature Counter-Earth, which will likely be the home planet of Rocket Raccoon. 

All of that information suggests that Guardians 3 will likely draw from Roy Thomas’s Jesus Christ Superstar riff, in which the Soul Gem was part of Warlock’s power set. As exciting as those stories are, they are relatively limited in scope. They tell a straightforward story about Warlock trying to control the Soul Gem while stopping the Man-Beast from corrupting High Evolutionary’s creation on Counter-Earth. 

But where the original story presented the Soul Gem as largely a personal struggle for Warlock, MCU viewers know the Soul Stone as the most foreboding of the Infinity Stones, the one that requires a sacrifice on Vormir to acquire. However, death and resurrection are key parts of Warlock’s story, making him an ideal character to retrieve the Gem. Furthermore, as Warlock wrestles with arrogant characters like Ayesha and High Evolutionary, he’ll gain an understanding of power’s corruption, something that will drive him to find the Stones and take them out of contention.