Adam Warlock made his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 but who is he and what is his role in the comics?
If you have watched the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3 movie, then you have seen quite a few characters whom you have never seen before, like Adam Warlock. I feel a proper introduction is needed, even though the movie did the character some justice.
Adam Warlock is a Marvel Comics big whig who had his biggest moments in the 1990s. He was the one who led the revolt against Thanos when he obtained the Infinity stones.
He also stopped Thanos in the 1970s when he tried to take over the universe using a Cosmic Egg. Marvel wouldn’t look like it does today if it wasn’t for Warlock.
Adam Warlock, a reluctant hero
First and foremost, Adam Warlock is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Universe. I was elated after I read that Adam Warlock was cast for Guardians of the Galaxy vol.3.
The casting was perfect as well, Will Poulter is a great comedian, and comedy actors are often the best drama actors as well, according to Bob Odenkirk and Vince Gilligan from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.
But Adam Warlock has of course a comic book background, a very rich one too. Warlock made his debut in the Fantastic Four #66-#67. He was found in a cave in a cocoon. That cocoon is very important. That is where Adam Warlock regenerates and reflects on the world and his next steps.
The Birth of a Messiah
The creators didn’t think much of the character until he was revamped by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. And this is where the very foundation of the character was laid, Adam was turned into a Messiah, and his name was a small reference to Adam from the bible. There are so many references in the comics from then on and can be found in today’s comics as well.
Roy Thomas explained in an interview that he was a fan of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar and wanted to integrate some of that into the character. Little did he know that he created a character that would be loved among fans and pundits in the coming decades.
While keeping him away from the regular Marvel Universe, Thomas also created Counter-Earth which was led by High Evolutionary.
Not everyone was a fan however of Warlock being a Messiah-like figure. In an interview, Karen Walker in 2009 noted the following:
… continued the story of Adam’s attempts to drive the Man-Beast [a fallen-angel figure] out of Counter-Earth, but drifted toward standard superhero stories with pseudo-Biblical references injected into them. Warlock spends much of his time trying to convince the High Evolutionary not to destroy the planet, and the rest of his time battling the Man-Beast and his minions. Although the concept of a superhero savior was still present, it often came across as forced, and certainly contradictory to the idea of a pacifistic savior. It is questionable whether the concept could really work in a medium driven by physical conflict.
Jim Starlin revamps Adam Warlock
But the series didn’t last and Warlock was largely ignored until Jim Starlin got a hold of the character in Strange Tales #178–#181. Who ran into the same issues as Karen Walker did, as stated in another interview in 2009.
I had quit [the cosmic superhero series] Captain Marvel over a dispute at that point, but I settled the dispute with Marvel and I was going to come back [to that title]. But [a different team was in place]. So Roy [Thomas] asked me [what character] I wanted to do. So I went home that night and pulled out a bunch of comics. I came across, in the Fantastic Four, Him, and came back the next day and said that’s who I wanted to do, and that night I started working on it… I had basically taken Captain Marvel, a warrior, and turned him into sort of a messiah-type character. So when I got to Warlock, I said to myself, ‘I got a messiah right here to start off with; where do I go from there?’ And I decided a paranoid schizophrenic was the route to take.
Comic Book Origins
In the comics, Adam Warlock was created by an organization called The Enclave, they sought to create the perfect human and created that cocoon. The Enclave however wanted to use him for evil purposes and Warlock soon took care of them and traveled into space afterwards.
Adam Warlock: powers and abilities
When Warlock is hurt, he spins a cocoon around him to regenerate and reflect on his next steps. There are some drawbacks to that cocoon. If he emerges too soon, he will be less intelligent and less powerful. Basically, he would be a dumbed-down version of what he is supposed to be. Which is what we saw in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy.
But if he emerges at the right time, at the right moment then he is someone the entire universe needs to fear. He can set events in motion and control the outcome of it. He is a superb strategist and wields a lot of power.
In the comics, Warlock is also the guardian of one of the Infinity Stones, the Soul gem. He is also one of the few who can actually control the power of the Gem. The Gem has a tendency to take over one’s personality but Warlock is headstrong and has a strong personality.
After he died, his soul went into the Soul Gem and lived a happy life and made a cameo appearance in Marvel-two-in-one in 1980 when he was briefly revived by his female counterpart Her, also regarded as Eve.
She was looking for the perfect mate and thought Warlock was going to be the one. She revived his body, but his soul was still in the Soul Gem, so all that remained was an empty husk.
Other powers Warlock possesses are superhuman strength, speed, durability, stamina, agility, and the ability to manipulate cosmic energy for energy projection, flight, and recuperation. He has limited access to mystical abilities and can see the aura of other people.
Warlock is also immortal and has the ability to transmute bodies in order to resurrect.
The Soul Gem
Adam Warlock is also the guardian of the Soul Gem, which part of the Infinity Stones. The Soul Gem has a hunger for souls and only someone with a strong personality can control that power.
The Soul Gem is a dimension all in itself, and when Warlock dies he goes into the Soul Gem’s world called Soul World. It hosts all of the souls that have ever been eaten by the Gem.
Comic book must-reads
Most of the Adam Warlock titles got canceled real quick. He mostly made appearances in Marvel’s Strange Tales and a cameo of sorts in the Fantastic Four comics, which also served as his debut.
But Adam Warlock’s legacy is far greater than that. In the 1990s, writer Jim Starlin and the late George Perez created a crossover event that was even bigger than DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. It was called the Infinity Gauntlet.
The Infinity Gauntlet is a mega comic book crossover event and is widely regarded as the best in the history of comic books.
In the story, the mad Titan, Thanos, wants to wipe out half the life of the universe. Together with his reluctant allies, which is half the superhero population of Earth, Adam Warlock and his crew Pip the Troll and Gamorra, try to stop the mad Titan and if they fail, they will undo his damage.
I have written extensively about the Infinity Saga, which consisted of 3 mega crossovers, The Infinity Gauntlet, Infinity War, and Infinity Crusade. The only one really really worth reading is The Infinity Gauntlet.
In February 2020, I wrote the following about the sequels to The Infinity Gauntlet:
While I was a big fan of the Infinity Gauntlet, the sequels felt unnecessary and should have never been published. The Infinity Gauntlet was solid writing, had a good build-up and Thanos / Adam Warlock were more than one-dimensional characters. Also, at heart, the Infinity Gauntlet is a love story about rejection.
The sequels just didn’t have all that. It lacked character build-up, I mean I still don’t know who the Magus or the Goddess are. And what they wanted was so superficially written that we never know. In my opinion, Marvel should have just stuck with the Infinity Gauntlet but then there is that proverbial cash cow and Marvel went ahead anyway. I guess money talks.
To this day, I stand by my words. I understand that Marvel wanted to make more money out of it. But at some point, just like with movies, it is done. And they should have never made The Infinity Gauntlet a trilogy but just come up with something new.
Guardians of the Galaxy comics
The most modern version of Adam Warlock appears in the cosmic event called Annihilation: Conquest from 2007-2008. Together with Phyla-vell and Moondragon, they fight the Phalanx. After the end of the events, Warlock joins the Guardians of the Galaxy. With the Guardians, Warlock tries to reverse the damage that was done, but instead of fixing it, he became his evil counterpart, The Magus.
The Magus has been part of the lore of Adam Warlock. He is a version of the future of Adam Warlock who went insane because he couldn’t control the Soul Gem.
