Adam Warlock Originally Had a Major Role in GUARDIANS VOL. 2 But He'll Be in GUARDIANS VOL. 3!
Early on in the process of developing the story for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, James Gunn was planning on using Adam Warlock as a major character but he ended up changing it up and taking him out, opting to include him in a future Marvel film like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 instead. So, for all of you who have been waiting for Adam Warlock to enter the MCU, he's coming!
The news comes from director James Gunn himself during an interview with /Film. He explains that Adam Warlock is one of his favorite characters and it sounds like he's just been waiting for the right story to play with him in. Gunn explains:
“I love Adam Warlock. He’s one of my favorite characters. In all truth, I wrote an early treatment where I had Adam Warlock as a part…this is your big scoop, because I don’t think I’ve told anybody this… It was Adam Warlock. He was a big part of the screenplay and I realized it was one character too many. And I adored the character. I adored what we had done with him. I think we did something really creative and unique with Adam Warlock. But it was one character too many and I didn’t want to lose Mantis and Mantis was more organically part of the movie anyway. So I decided to save him for later.”
In a separate interview with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, he told the site that Gunn is "developing Adam Warlock to be included in a future Marvel cosmic universe film." When this was brought up with Gunn, the director made sure that it was known that Warlock will not be in Infinity War saying:
“He’s not in Infinity War. But he will be a part of the future Marvel cosmic universe and a pretty important part of that.”
He doesn't come right out and say that Adam Warlock will be in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but it's a very safe assumption that that's where the character is going to be introduced, especially since Gunn recently confirmed that he will be directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. What other films could Gunn be developing the character for?
Feige then went on to tell the site, “If he appears anywhere in the future, it’ll be in Guardians.” So, there ya have it.