"You guys are getting Soul Gems?"
With his cosmic powers and super-human strength, Adam Warlock is sent by the Sovereign to seek revenge on the Guardians of the Galaxy who have humiliated them.
The MCU has done so many things right, it really stands out when they get something wrong. Or, maybe not "wrong," but definitely a missed opportunity. Adam Warlock was created in the late '60s, and spent two decades not really mattering to anybody. Then came the '90s and The Infinity Gauntlet, and he became deeply entwined, as a character, with Thanos. Putting Adam Warlock and Thanos together was synergy on the level of finally pairing Daredevil and Kingpin. It's what "Superman and Darkseid" strives to be. But because of the rate at which the story progressed, we're never going to see Warlock and Thanos really meet in the movies. Guess we can look forward to MCU versions of the Magus and Man-Beast!
Live-action Adam Warlock is played by Will "I'm the face of a meme" Poulter. No, he was not also Sid from Toy Story, that movie came out in 1995. And was animated. He retains the all-gold look displayed by Ayesha and the rest of the Sovereign in Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, which is what the comics were going for with him, even if he's more familiarly orange.
Warlock's original costume was intended
to homage Shazam: thus the red tunic with a yellow lightning bolt on the chest. The only thing the movie costume has in common with that is the inclusion of some red and the wearing of a cape. The armor he's wearing is thin and angular, but certainly not jagged enough to look like lightning. The design has hints of Kree, Nova Corps, and Eternal elements, making this Adam feel perfectly like a part of the MCU's cosmic setting. But in keeping with his most memorable design, he still has a small skull clasp for his cape - a raccoon skull, perhaps?
One thing this costume definitely copies
from the 1970s books is its colorscheme: entirely gold and red. It wasn't until Adam Warlock got resurrected in the '90s that his costume got any black on it, but that addition paradoxically made tha character stand out more. Comic Warlock was Space Jesus, and he had to die and come back to gain his full power, with the black representing that transition; movie Warlock is still a naive baby, so his suit is lacking it. Hopefully he gets some more color in the future, but for now this is accurate. The colors are applied well, and the gold chosen is the same tint seen in the film. The little skull gets painted white, and the pattern on the outside of his cape is applied cleanly.
The articulation is the standard stuff today: swivel/hinge ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips,
a balljoint chest, swivel hinge wrists, double-hinged knees, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge biceps, and a barbell neck. Having a cape means a bit of limitation in the posability, as it always does.
The toy doesn't have any accessories, not even any alternate hands or energy blasts. Where's Blurp, Hasbro? WHERE'S BLURP. Blurp is the Loth-cat furry F'saki pet Adam ended up carrying around with him. Why do we not get a Blurp toy, Hasbro? If Katy can get Morris, Adam Warlock can get Blurp. It'd be Blurp, Morris, and Jeff, all having little adventures together! But no. No Blurp. No nothing.
We do get the tail and helmet for the GOOD DOG Build-A-Figure, Cosmo, at least.
In the comics, Thanos has kind of moved away from his rivalry with Warlock for now, so they found a new foe for him: since Adam is an artifical being created for the betterment of mankind, they pitted him against his opposite number... Ultron, who's also dead in the MCU! Guy just can't catch a break. He'll certainly be an interesting character to see more of in the movies, and he also wouldn't be the first to get some new facets that could potentially influence the comics moving forward.
-- 05/17/23
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