Will Poulter shall play Adam Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but what do the actor's previous roles reveal about his MCU character? In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Peter Quill's band of planet-bothering misfits took a job from the Sovereign, but a raccoon never changes its tail stripes, and Rocket couldn't resist stealing several handfuls of precious Sovereign batteries. This sparked a feud between the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Sovereign, and especially the leader, Ayesha, whose failure to capture the renegades damaged her reputation. Though Yondu helped the Guardians defeat the Sovereign's drone fleet, Ayesha hatched another plan to get revenge on Star-Lord's crew...

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's post-credits sequence shows Ayesha watching over a Sovereign birthing pod, claiming to have created the next step in her species' evolution. Christening the new warrior "Adam," Ayesha promises her science project will be stronger and more powerful than anything the Sovereign's genetic engineering has produced thus far. Adam Warlock failed to make an appearance in either Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame, but will debut proper in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, played by Will Poulter.

Related: Guardians Of The Galaxy 3: Predicting The Fate Of Every Character

Poulter isn't necessarily the obvious choice for an all-powerful cosmic MCU superhero, and his past roles confirm as much. For starters, the British actor's acting résumé boasts a strong backbone of comedy. Will Poulter's early experience came via British sitcoms and sketch shows such as Comedy Lab, School of Comedy and Lead Balloon, before his breakout Hollywood debut in We're The Millers, which included that unforgettable "Waterfalls" rap. Poulter's heavy comedy leanings suggest Adam Warlock won't be presented as a typical MCU superhero in the mold of Chris Evans' Captain America or Richard Madden's Ikaris, but played slightly tongue-in-cheek. Since he hails from the Sovereign, Adam Warlock could be the kind of intergalactic warrior who takes himself super-seriously, but who the Guardians poke fun toward. Not only would Poulter be perfect as a socially-oblivious, self-absorbed Adam Warlock, but that tone of character aligns neatly with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy world. We've already seen Marvel cast comedic actors as traditionally serious comic characters to great effect with Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness.

Will Poulter in Black Mirror Bandersnatch

Of course, there's much more to Will Poulter's acting that comedy alone; many of his characters come with a subtle (or, in some cases, not so subtle) dark side bubbling beneath the surface. The intimidating Gally in The Maze Runner, the deeply unpleasant Eustace Scrubb in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and an unsettling performance as Krauss in Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit all demonstrate Poulter's ability to deliberately irk the audience into despising his character. This trait would suggest Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's Adam Warlock will be a smarmy, unlikable soldier of the Sovereign hunting after the Guardians, who eventually comes to see the error of his ways thanks to his evolved intelligence. Poulter's knack for facial expressions and vocal inflection will be crucial in switching Warlock from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's antagonist to a future MCU protagonist.

Also worth noting is the offbeat slant many of Will Poulter's movie and TV roles take. From Colin, the meta game designer from Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, to the weird horror worlds of Midsommar and The Little Stranger, Poulter's characters are rarely conventional, whether hero or villain. Again, that unusual style should work wonders within James Gunn's already off-the-wall Guardians of the Galaxy universe, embracing the inherent silliness of characters like Rocket, Groot and Drax, but ultimately demonstrating the same inner depth the Guardians themselves have shown throughout their MCU journeys. With Will Poulter now cast, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's Adam Warlock looks to be a not-entirely-serious (but still intimidating) warrior who struggles with the burden of being a one-off creation, before transforming into a hero the MCU audience wants to cheer for.

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