Marvel fans who were hoping to see cosmic powerhouse character Adam Warlock show up in Avengers: Infinity War were in for a rude awakening when the film was finally released. After all, the character had such a big role to play in The Infinity Gauntlet -- the comic book series that served as the main inspiration for the third Avengers film -- that fans had every reason to believe the character might show up at the eleventh hour. But, apparently, the character was never even slated to appear in the film.

Still, there was some hope that the character could show up yet, in the untitled Avengers 4, the second part of the conclusion to Marvel's 10+ years of cinematic storytelling. That is, until now. In an interview with ComicBook.com, directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed that Warlock will not appear in their next film.

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"Yeah [Adam Warlock]'s not showing up in our stories," Joe revealed. "Our job as we said a million times is to tell the story of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, not to do direct adaptations of the comics because we're comic book fans."

The director goes on to explain that, for the film to have weight, it needs to be a surprise to the audience -- those who never picked up a comic before, as well as those who did. "If I know all the events story as they're going to happen then what's the point of going to the film?" he continued. "We want to keep surprising audiences and continue the story that started with Iron Man [...] a decade ago."

Many theories about Adam Warlock being introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe took form once the character was teased in one of the mid-credits scenes of director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The character's arrival seemed imminent, and yet we have yet to see him emerge out of his cocoon.

On top of that, James Gunn hinted at the very real possibility that we might not even see the character in 2020's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Whenever Warlock does show up however, it's safe to say that many fans will finally cheer.

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Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Avengers: Infinity War stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Olsen, Tom Holland, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chadwick Boseman, Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Tom Hiddleston, and Josh Brolin. The film is out in theaters now.