Will Poulter on joining the MCU as Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3

After being teased in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, it was only a matter of time before Adam Warlock made his official debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The super-powered character is a warrior who has been genetically engineered to destroy the Guardians, but he’s also a bit dim as he was removed from his cocoon a little too early. Will Poulter plays Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, and he spoke with Entertainment Weekly about how he got involved in the project.

“I was shooting a project in London, and I got a request to audition and make a tape for ‘Untitled Marvel Project,’” Will Poulter said. “My mate Ethan put me on tape for it. I didn’t quite know what it was at that time and thought there was next to zero chance of me hearing anything back from this tape. And then, I did hear something back. Over time, I got through various stages and ended up covered in gold makeup, screen-testing in front of James Gunn in Atlanta in September, three months later. It was quite a strange, secretive audition process, but ultimately I was very honored to get the part of Adam Warlock.”

Will Poulter had a screen test in which he wore gold clothes, was covered in gold makeup, and even wore a pair of gold Air Max 95s. “I shouldn’t have even been thinking about that,” Poulter said of the gold Nikes. “I should have been thinking about the lines that I had to learn. But I was thinking, ‘Oh, this is quite cool. I’m in gold Nikes.’” The actor spilled a fun fact that the bottom of Adam Warlock’s boots in the movie are actually Air Max 95 soles

As for what attracted Will Poulter to the character, he said, “I think the fact that this was someone who was in his infancy and trying to discover his way in the world. Even in a relatively limited period of time in this movie, I got to explore what his maturation looked like and how he started to sort of carve out his moral compass and decide the sort of being he wanted to be. How much he was going to align himself with the Sovereign, what his relationship to the Guardians was going to be. It was full of ambiguity and nuance, and James was down to explore it all. So, it was nice to find out that we were kind of on the same page in that regard, and we could get our teeth into that kind of material.“

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 finds our beloved band of misfits settling into life on Knowhere. But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life—a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them. The first reactions to the threequel have been reasonably positive, with some calling it the best Marvel movie since Endgame.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 will hit theaters on May 5th, so be sure to check out the review from our own Chris Bumbray.