Chris Pratt and his “Guardians of the Galaxy” costars are teaming up for a third installment set for release in 2023.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will be helmed by returning writer-director James Gunn and feature existing cast members from the franchise: Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Dave Bautista as Drax, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, and Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot.
The film will also introduce new faces to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Here’s what fans can expect from “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”
Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
The British actor is known for roles in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” “We’re the Millers,” “The Maze Runner,” “Black Mirror: Bandersnatch,” and “Midsommar.”
The introduction of Adam Warlock in the MCU was first teased in an end-credits scene in 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”
One scene showed Ayesha (Elizabeth Debicki), the High Priestess of the extragalactic race known as the Sovereign, talking about how to defeat the Guardians by way of a new plan.
Ayesha told another Sovereign that the birthing pod in the room was “the next step in our evolution. More powerful, more beautiful, more capable of destroying the Guardians of the Galaxy.”
“I think I shall call him Adam,” she said, referring to Adam Warlock.
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Many fans theorized that Adam would appear in “Avengers: Infinity War” or “Avengers: Endgame” as part of the Infinity Saga, given the characters’ history of wielding the Infinity Stones in the comics. In the source material, Adam also formed a group called the Infinity Watch to protect the stones.
Adam wasn’t part of either of the aforementioned films, with the Avengers instead going back in time to collect all the stones and defeat the Mad Titan known as Thanos (Josh Brolin) with Tony Stark/Iron Man’s fatal finger snap.
In the comics, Adam has blonde hair, golden skin, and glowing eyes. His superpowers include telepathy, superhuman agility, superhuman stamina, and the ability to manipulate energy.
Poulter’s casting as the powerful character was reported by Deadline in October 2021.
Gunn confirmed the news shortly thereafter on Twitter, writing: “Welcome to the Guardians family, Will Poulter. He’s an amazing actor and wonderful guy. See you in a couple weeks.”
In response, Poulter said, “Thank you, James. It’s a genuine honour to play this role and to work with you. I’m very excited to get to work.”
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Filming began on November 8, 2021. Gunn and the stars marked the occasion by posting a Polaroid featuring Poulter, Klementieff, Iwuji, Sean Gunn (who has portrayed Kraglin and is a motion reference actor for Rocket Raccoon), Pratt, Saldana, Bautista, and Gillan.
“It’s been a strange & long & at times challenging journey to get here, but the obstacles along the way have only made this moment more blissful. Back on set with my Guardians family for the first day of shooting #GotGVol3,” the director captioned his Instagram and Twitter posts.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will be released the same year as two other MCU films, “The Marvels” (February 17, 2023) and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (July 28, 2023).
