The Guardians better watch out because they are about to face a villain unlike any they've ever seen before: Adam. Unfortunately, Adam only shows up in one of the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 post-credit scenes (there are five, FYI) Teased as a being (spoiler alert!) created specifically defeat the Guardians, the mysterious character is set up to be a major threat to the Guardians, but just who is Adam in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 exactly?
Adam is never seen in GotG 2, which makes it hard to confirm his identity with 100 percent confidence. However, the accepted theory is that Adam in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is Adam Warlock, a powerful character who appears often in the original Guardians comics. As hinted in the post-credits scene, Adam is a sort of all-powerful being, created as a perfect life-form. In the comics, Adam was created by the Enclave, a group of mad scientists. In the film, however, Adam is created by the villainous Ayesha. Herself a genetic improvement on humanity (a community known as the Sovereign), Ayesha appears to have created Adam in her own image. Though we never see Adam — he is still forming in a golden cocoon when Ayesha introduces him — it's clear he's going to be a major threat to the Guardians in the future.
In the comics, Adam Warlock is both friend and foe to Avengers: Infinity War villain Thanos, and he even comes into possession of one of the Infinity Stones. Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will recognize the Infinity Stones as a crucial part of the MCU lead up to Infinity War. Given Adam's comic book arc with the Infinity Stones, fans are wondering, will Adam have a role in Infinity War? The short answer is no. "He's not in Infinity War," said writer-director James Gunn in an interview with /Film. "But he will be a part of the future Marvel cosmic universe and a pretty important part at that."
Adam was actually originally supposed to play a larger role in GotG 2. Gunn confirmed that Adam Warlock had a big role in his original treatment for the GotG 2 script, telling /Film, "He was a big part of the screenplay and I realized it was one character too many." At the end of the day, Gunn had to part with one of the characters in the film, and he decided to keep Mantis over Adam. "It was one character too many and I didn't want to lose Mantis," Gunn added. "So I decided to save him for later."
Those eager to see Adam on the big screen will likely have to wait until Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The third film in the Guardians trilogy, also set to be written and directed by Gunn, will take place after Infinity War, which means we might not see Adam on the big screen until 2020. Granted, Adam's presence in GotG 3 has not yet been confirmed, so it's possible we might see him earlier. However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told /Film, "If he appears anywhere in the future, it'll be in Guardians."
All in all, it looks like we've got a while before Adam Warlock actually makes it to the big screen. Fans should take comfort in the knowledge that he will make it at all, even if it won't be for another three or so years.
