Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy director James Gunn clarified that he never outright stated that Adam Warlock would appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
In response to a fan asking who would play Adam Warlock during an Instagram Q&A, Gunn remarked, "I never said Adam Warlock was in the movie." Previously, Gunn said that he fought just to get Adam Warlock mentioned in the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 post-credits sequence, which showed a defeated Ayesha vowing to create a new warrior named "Adam" to get revenge. This led many to believe his evil alter ego Magus would be the villain of the next film.
Adam Warlock, who was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1967 for Fantastic Four #66, has long been a mainstay of the cosmic corner of the Marvel Universe, especially as a rival and occasional "frenemy" of Thanos. Most notably, he had a major role in The Infinity Gauntlet in 1991 and starred in his own series, Warlock and the Infinity Watch, which ran from 1992-1995.
Fans hoped the character would at least appear in Avengers: Infinity War or Endgame, given his strong ties to Thanos and the Infinity Gems, though there were no plans for his inclusion. Still, Gunn is an outspoken fan of the character, saying, "...the time must be right" to introduce him to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 does not currently have a release date. The film is reportedly scheduled to begin production in Feb. 2021.
(via comicbook.com)