My favorite fictional character is about to be adapted into live action for the first time and I’m nervous. Not about the quality of the film or how the character is adapted, I’m worried that the adapted version will filter back into the comics and supplant the original, the one that made me care.

I first encountered Adam Warlock when I was nine. I was sick and my mom brought me back a comic recommended by the guy who owned the gas station in town. It was a new series and maybe I’d like it. I did and kept up with his new adventures while tracking down the past ones.

Since 1967, many different creators have written, drawn, inked, colored and lettered his stories. One set of creators made him, another set renamed him and set the stage, another made his stories matter and gave the character an ending. Endings are rare in corporate-owned comics and often illusory. Eventually, the company brought him back because it was theirs and there was money to be made with a recognizable name. Luckily, that crucial creator was the one to bring Warlock back and this is where I came in. 

Here Warlock achieved his greatest market saturation which then led to a scaling back. Since then Warlock has been passed around by a variety of creators, making sporadic appearances. Sometimes for a reason and sometimes to fill space in a page. But with a movie coming out, he could be about to make another come back and change again.

There’s a risk in following a fictional character owned by a company instead of one owned by an individual creator as the quality and version control gets lost. It could be that new creators will ask the corporation to work on the character or they could simply be assigned it for business reasons, either option could result in the creators building on what’s come before and discovering something new and interesting. But just as likely is the character will be changed out of neglect or become stuck in a rut as old material is recycled out of nostalgia or to appeal to the previous fans or a desire to link themselves to past heights. There’s a lot that can go wrong.

To love Adam Warlock comics is to accept each iteration will be different and to accept that there’s a lot of chaff with the wheat. I’d like to think about how the character has developed and what the future might hold.

HIM (1967-’69)

The character who would become Adam Warlock first appeared in three-issue Fantastic Four story “conceived and created by the colossally celebrated combo of: Stan (The Man) Lee and Jack (King) Kirby” with Joe Sinnott, Artie Simek and Stan Goldberg. Much has already been written and said about the combination of Lee and Kirby and their collaborations in the Marvel Method but it’s crucial to the origins of Warlock. 

First, Lee and Kirby would have a conversation of which no records were kept, then Kirby would draw the issue and write out dialog, then Stan as both “writer” and, most importantly, the editor would finalize the dialog and narrative captions as he saw fit. Given that the two men are responsible for cocreating, together or with other partners, the foundational elements of the Marvel Universe, it was a productive system even if it led to personal animosity that is continually hashed out by those not in the room.

We can see the cracks emerge in this system in Him’s first appearance. Some of Kirby’s raw penciled pages are available online and show his intentions. A group of scientists called the Enclave are devoted to Ayn Rand’s philosophy and set out to create a new human named Him to be the peak Objectivist. Upon his birth, the artificial being lives up to those standards and turns on his creators feeling he owes them nothing. Kirby wanted to make a point with his art but he was working for The Man. Lee published a philosophy-free comic book with generically-evil scientists rejected by Him for being generically-evil. Still, the comics are entertaining, engaging, emotional and inventive. 

Almost two years later, Kirby and Lee would pick up Him again for a four-issue collision with Thor in his book with the help of Simek, Goldberg and Sam Rosen and the “help” of Vince Colletta. Here, Him is impetuous and seeks a mate in the Lady Sif. Thor has a different feel than Fantastic Four with fewer but larger panels for action and design to tell different stories. It ends with Him once again returning to his cocoon and heading into space for a new adventure which would take a few years.

Counter-Earth (‘72-’74)

In 1972, two experts at revitalizing characters and concepts picked up Him. Writer Roy Thomas was already established as Lee’s successor by now and had a habit of taking old or forgotten concepts and bringing them back. Artist Gil Kane was a masterful designer who drew figures with grace and pathos; he’d reinvented Green Lantern and Atom over at DC. 

Inspired by Jesus Christ Superstar, Thomas wanted to make Jesus Christ Superhero. And what better Jesus than a preexisting Adam? All they had to do was pair Him with a few other Marvel characters established in the God and Satan roles.

The High Evolutionary (HE), who had previously crossed paths with Thor and Hulk, was a scientist obsessed with creating new humanity from animals. His foe was the Man-Beast, one of his creations who had turned on him. Now, HE found Him just as HE was creating Counter-Earth, a perfect duplicate exactly opposite the sun from the existing Earth. When Man-Beast corrupted it with sin, HE planned to destroy it but Him asked to become its savor. HE rechristened Him Adam Warlock and set him to his task becoming a found Father figure.

Warlock traded up from the simple red shorts of his previous appearances with a red space-gladiator outfit with gold highlights. In the center of his chest is a lightning bolt to resemble Fawcett Comic’s original Captain Marvel, elements of whom Thomas and Kane had already taken for Marvel’s trademark-securing Captain Marvel. 

Oh, and on the last few pages of the Premiere issue, HE gives Warlock a Soul Gem and says it’s useful. Just casually tossed off it’s almost as an afterthought as Thomas and Kane ran out of room in a jam-packed issue. 

After that impressive first issue, the series loses steam. Thomas stepped away after a promotion to Lee’s old job of Editor-in-Chief. The always-overworked Kane would return to Amazing Spider-Man in time for Gwen Stacy’s death. The title was passed to Mike Friedrich, Ron Goulart, William Robert Brown, et al. to continue and they focused on Counter-Earth variants of established Marvel characters and a subplot about the US President before the title was canceled. 

Thankfully, Thomas couldn’t allow his story to stop and had it concluded in a few issues of Incredible Hulk by Gerry Conway, Herb Trimpe, Jack Abel, Linda Lessman, Tony Isabella, Alan Kupperberg, Simek, Goldberg. This made perfect sense as the Hulk had already visited Counter-Earth once before. While the Warlock series had drifted from the Jesus of it all, it was back and more explicit than ever before. Warlock holds a last supper with Hulk as one of his disciples. The President plays and quotes Pontus Pilate. Warlock is crucified and duly returns to life to expose the Man Beast and bring peace to Counter-Earth. Hulk then returns to Earth because he has to get to Canada to meet Wolverine. These are inconsistent comics but the foundation of everything that comes afterwards.

Strange Tales (‘75-’77)

A few months later, Jim Starlin began writing and drawing new Warlock stories in Strange Tales which was popular enough to revive the Warlock series with its previous numbering. Starlin was the driving force on the tales but would collaborate with Annette Kawecki, Tom Orzechowski, Glynis Wein, Alan Weiss, Al Milgrom, Steve Leialoha, Petra Goldberg, Michelle Wolfman and Josef Rubenstein. Starlin had been a long-time comics fan and took every chance he had at Marvel to make himself known and get out his thoughts and feelings on the page, even inserting his existing creation Thanos into an issue of Iron Man Starlin could co-write and draw and then using him to his fullest when he got involved in Captain Marvel.

Starlin began with Warlock drifting among the stars looking for purpose and finds it in fighting against the fascists of the Universal Church of Truth which worships The Magus, Warlock’s evil future self. Warlock saw himself progressing from Adam to Jesus to God. Meanwhile, Warlock’s Soul Gem developed some personality. Where before it was used to blast or be a deus ex machina, it now stole the souls of Warlock’s enemies. All of Warlock’s past experiences were building to this breaking point as Starlin worked through his own issues around religion and death. 

Most daringly, Starlin did an entire issue mocking the safe house style forcibly imposed on Marvel Comics with a thesis that capital-a Art was only allowed on accident or through subversion. Warlock was prisoner and forced to watch a struggling society of “1,000 Clowns” a metaphor for the top-down efforts of Marvel Comics as “building a giant tower of… trash!” Warlock observes that some diamonds are slipped into the garbage piles by they are discouraged.

Starlin could take these risks because it was a small title that didn’t have the same attention on it like the main line. These comics were exciting, daring and enthralling. But they wouldn’t be half as memorable without Starlin’s experimentation with his art. His masterful layouts of the page control the pace of the reader causing one to rush along to a tragic ending or slow down to ponder Warlock’s role in the universe. Everything is emotive and solid and still grounded despite the psychedelics. He gave Warlock a cape which made everything more dramatic, from action to pondering loneliness seated on a drifting asteroid

But it wasn’t to last; Warlock was canceled again despite the last published issue offering teases of future stories including the first mention that five other Soul Gems existed. While Starlin stepped away, other creators picked that last point by introducing three of the Gems (Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, et al. created the Stranger and the Gardner’s gems; Steve Engelhardt, Al Milgron, et al. created the Denebian Gem). Starlin had a chance to come back and finish the story which he did in annuals for Avengers and Marvel Two-in-One which assembled all six Soul Gems together for the first time and in Thanos’ power. Through some time travel tricks, the conclusion includes a scene we’d read before which hits harder than before. Warlock is given a tragic and happy ending and the threats are eliminated and Starlin was free to move on to other projects.

These are the best Warlock comics in terms of quality but also the most impactful as Starlin invented a lasting supporting cast (Gamora, Pip and his pre-existing Thanos) around Warlock and made the Gems memorable.

While Him Was Out (‘77-’89)

Though Warlock was dead, there was enough material around him that was fertile ground for other creators to continue to mine for their own stories. The first of the noteworthy among them technically came out the same day as the first part of Starlin’s Warlock swan song, Incredible Hulk Annual #6 by Wein, David Kraft, Trimpe, Frank Giacoia, Mike Esposito, Janice Cohen and Gaspar Saladino goes back to the beginning. The Enclave are revealed to be alive and have created a new being, Paragon, who once again turns on his creators and returns to his cocoon.

Paragon would emerge two years later as Her in Marvel Two-in-One #61 by Mark Gruenwald, Jerry Bingham, Gene Day, Ben Sean and Joe Rosen. Her determines her purpose is to mate with Him and create a new race. In trying to find Him, the creators wrap up the other untouched elements from Starlin’s run. But of course Warlock is dead and after digging up the corpse, Her is convinced to change course and find a new purpose for Her life. She would find her own stories and adventures and after this beginning rarely had anything to do with Warlock. Her would later go by two other names: Kismet and Ayesha (because Chris Claremont can’t resist naming characters after existing literary characters).

Several years later, ten years after Starlin’s ending, the Silver Surfer got a new series from Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers, et al. with a subplot about the Elders of the Universe collecting the Soul Gems. Midway through this story, Rogers would be replaced with Ron Lim, an artist who would come to be closely linked with the Surfer, Warlock and all things Marvel Cosmic. 

These stories and the ones that introduced the other gems, highlight the benefit of the shared universe. Characters and story elements can be picked up and expanded by other creators that add something new or explore what’s come before in a new light. This revised interest in the Gems would lead to Starlin’s return for…

The Infinity Gauntlet (‘90-’92)

Though its never been publicly said who, someone else at Marvel wanted to revive Adam Warlock. Jim Starlin heard this and intervened. He took over Silver Surfer with issue #34 and resurrected his Thanos who was set on reassembling the Soul Gems which Starlin and Thanos renamed the Infinity Gems and revealed their unique names and abilities. Thanos outclasses the Surfer in every way but does lead the Surfer to encounter Warlock in his restful paradise and beg him to help before heading to Earth looking for more help.

The spine of the story then moves to the Infinity Gauntlet miniseries from George Pérez, Lim, Josef Rubinstein, Tom Christopher, Bruce Solotoff, Max Scheele, Ian Laughlin, Evlyn Stein and Jack Morelli. But Thanos’ actions are felt across the Marvel Universe and crossover into a dozen other issues. While Starlin and his collaborators allow for big moments for big characters, the day is saved by an Adam Warlock who chooses to return to life and resume his burden. His reward is the Infinity Gauntlet which makes him the ultimate power in the universe. While the Magus had been God as a figurehead, Warlock was now God as a force. The all-powerful Warlock undoes Thanos’ evil deeds and puts everyone back where they belong.

Infinity Gauntlet #1-6 provides a full story but one that begins and ends abruptly. Just as he laid the groundwork in Silver Surfer, Starlin provides an epilog in Warlock and the Infinity Watch (W&IW). This is where I met Warlock as neither of my town’s spinner racks carried Infinity Gauntlet; Unocal and Safeway really let me down.

The first issue by Starlin, Angel Medina, Terry Austin, Ian Laughlin and Morelli saw Warlock forced to defend his right to possess all the Gems as his life was reviewed. This was a perfect first issue as it told me all I needed to know in a compelling way. A few issues later I was hooked and collecting back issues. Those issues had Warlock distributing the Gems for safe-keeping among his friends and acquaintances (coincidentally all Starlin creations, except Moondragon who I actually assumed was his for a long time).

These then are the second best Warlock comics. Warlock and Thanos are perfected here but the problem with operating on a big stage and being a bit hit, is that people want more.

The Infinity War (‘92-’93)

Less than a year after Infinity Gauntlet #1 came Infinity War #1. The heroes of the Marvel universe were beset by monstrous doppelgängers who sought to take them over in service of Warlock’s own dark double, the Magus. But a different Magus. Starlin et al. would reveal that in his brief period of godhood, Warlock sought to perfect himself by expelling his masculine/evil and feminine/good natures to achieve a true neutral. His evil nature naturally took the form of the Magus.

Given the scale of this threat, it’s only natural that other characters and titles get involved so beyond Starlin’s six issues of Infinity War, W&IW through #10, a serial across five issues of the anthology Marvel Comics Presents, in nearly 40 other comic issues. Some books would only have a single issue while others might get four or five depending on how intricate the characters were to the story. That is, to the busy work of the story as the conflict between Magus and Warlock was settled by Magus and Warlock.

Despite how little characters like Wonder Man contributed to the outcome of the crossover, it is impressive how tight the continuity was for the crossover. Scenes from the main series would be retracted exactly in the background of the other ongoing series. When Adam Warlock smacks Archangel with his staff, someone who read all the issues would see it from different angles. Again and again. And again and again and again. We’re a long way from Starlin’s “1,000 Clowns.”

Despite that, the story is still entertaining. There are twists and mysteries and high drama. It ends on a cliffhanger setting up a trilogy. Before the next installment hits, Starlin uses a few issues of W&IW to do character work and set up new subplots and antagonists for later and there is a mini-series with Silver Surfer. This is a decent stopping point for a new reader.

The Infinity Crusade (‘93-’94)

Coming 364 days after Infinity War #1 was Infinity Crusade #1 which saw the Goddess, Warlock’s feminine/good nature, enact her own plan to transform the universe. She assembled an army from superheroes who were religious or spiritual. Some of the selected recruits are questionable. It once again comes down to the duplicate appearing to win before Warlock reveals he’s tricked them and sets almost everything back to the way it was.

This gets back to Starlin’s concerns about organized religion that have been present in his work forever and were crucial to his original Warlock stories. That’s a welcome return. The problem with this story is that the structure was similar to what had come twice before only it took much longer to get there. In addition to Infinity Crusade #1-6 and W&IW #18-22, there was the Warlock Chronicles, a new eight-issue limited series which devoted the first five to this story, plus 30 other tie-in issues. The story being told didn’t need all those pages. Starlin made his points in Infinity Crusade, had Warlock attend to subplots in Chronicles and had to fill space in W&IW. The most egregious was an issue devoted to the assembled heroes trying to bathe Pip the Troll.

When the Crusade was over, the Warlock books rolled right into another crossover: “Blood and Thunder.” Thor had a long-running story in his book where he was descending into madness which was only made worse by serving the Goddess. Thor was being written by Ron Marz who was Starlin’s friend and had taken over Silver Surfer when Starlin left it to launch Infinity Gauntlet. The two Warlock books, Silver Surfer and Thor spent another three issues each trying to cure Thor. Sadly, these issues aren’t recommended.

End of the Watch (‘94-’95)

With the trilogy behind it, W&IW got back to its many subplots dealing with the UN, Man-Beast, Maxam, and some new but very Starlin-y characters. Behind the pages, things started to change. The series’ long-time alternating pencilers Angel Medina and Tom Grinderberg both left and after a fill-in issue, Pat Olliffe came on as the regular artist. Starlin then left with issue #31, in the middle of a story with his new characters. #32 appears thrown together with a fill-in writer and the lettering credited to “Many Hands.” Things stabilized in #33 as writer John Arcudi came in to finish that story and pen new ones with more established Marvel characters. 

Then in a role reversal, W&IW was caught up in someone else’s crossover. Fantastic Four and Namor were in the midst of “Atlantis Rising” which caused wild weather on the Watch’s island home. Meanwhile, simmering tensions caused the group to rupture and then the Infinity Gems vanished and the book was canceled.

The series ends on a down note both in tone and prestige. Launched as a continuation of an all-time classic story it ends an afterthought as a part of a crossover without actually stating the name of the crossover on the cover. The most direct connection between these issues and “Atlantis Rising” is the preview ashcan Marvel published which featured the first time Alan Davis officially drew Warlock for Marvel.

The Ultraverse (‘95-’96)

In the midst of Arcudi’s run, Marvel bought Malibu, another comic company that was looking for a buyer just as the mid-’90s comic bubble was bursting. Almost immediately Marvel/Malibu canceled some titles and injected the remaining ones with Marvel characters and some of their big cosmic concepts: the Infinity Gems and the Phoenix Force. Warlock followed the gems hoping to get them back and got caught up in characters related to Barry Windsor-Smith’s Rune with some good art from Kyle Hotz. This didn’t save Malibu’s Ultraverse and it was canceled never to be seen again. The comics are hard to find these days and usually not worth the effort. At least Alan Davis got to draw Warlock again.

The biggest effect in Marvel was only recognizable in hindsight: from this point on, the Infinity Gems were no longer closely associated with Warlock. Other characters will find and use them, sometimes Warlock would appear in a flashback to establish what the gems were but not always.

In the Wild (‘98-2006)

Seventeen months later, Warlock returned to the Marvel Universe but without a reason. For six years, he’d show up here and there without making much of an impact. First there was a miniseries from Tom Lyle that both seems like a passion project but relies on cliches and characters don’t seem much like themselves.

Starlin briefly returned to Marvel for a few series but Thanos was the star and Warlock was a background character. His role had crystallized at this point to be a reluctant, distant savior who would get involved in the universe when necessary but only when the stakes were sufficiently high. The Magus briefly bedeviled the cast of Captain Marvel by Peter David, CrissCross, et al. In the alternate reality story the Earth X trilogy, an aged and domesticated Warlock and Her were together with a slightly twisted recreation of his origin. But at least John Paul Leon drew him.

The high points in this dark age come in unexpected places. She-Hulk by Dan Slott, Juan Bobillo, et al. highlights how Warlock’s tendency to die and be resurrected would put a strain on his relationships. Meanwhile, Alan Davis was running the X-Men comics and a time travel story involved a shape-shifting alien Skrull impersonating Warlock so Davis got a chance to draw a Warlock for more than a pin-up, or at least a reasonable facsimile.

Greg Pak, Charlie Adlard, J.H. Williams III, Felix Serrano and Cory Petit would collaborate on a new Warlock mini-series that I initially avoided because it looked to be a reboot. Here the Enclave was creating Adam for the first time in the modern era. But in the end, it turned out there was more going on with a twist waiting in the pages. It’s solid comics. A light in a dark time as the cosmic corner of Marvel had been ignored but not forgotten.

The Guardians of the Galaxy (‘07-’11)

A few months after that a Drax the Destroyer mini-series came out that was well received. Building on that success, came Annihilation, a big cosmic story that brought back many old characters and introduced some new ones. It was a crossover that didn’t have any titles to crossover with. It had an initial launch issue followed by four four-issue minis focusing on different characters who then all came together for the six-issue main story. This gives the characters time to breathe and develop while establishing the scale. It was a solid structure and the series was a big hit. Warlock wasn’t around which editor Andy Schmidt said was to prevent him from overtaking the story. Fair enough. But when they did a sequel Annihilation: Conquest, the time was right.

Warlock returned in one of the mini-series while in another, the long-forgotten character Starlord assembles a group of misfit heroes. What’s unique in this story is how it deals with Warlock as an artificial being similar to robots. When the story was over, the heroes of the crossover decided to stick together in a group that would become the new Guardians of the Galaxy (GotG) and get their own series written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (DnA).

Warlock’s role is the calculating advisor who has seen it all and supports the worn down but still standing Starlord. These are good comics but they didn’t sell the way they should have. So more crossovers were used to bolster them. The final issue launched a new story that was able to launch two new mini-series with a rebranding, the Annihilators. Warlock died along the way but the Magus was the antagonist in the second mini.

The lasting impact of these comics is that it caught the attention of a few people outside of comics. This cast of the GotG were adapted into an episode of the cartoon Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes which aired in 2012, a year after this era ended. Nicole Perlman decided to make that the focus of her time in the Marvel Writing Program and wrote the first draft of a movie script which would be rewritten by writer/director James Gunn when he joined the project in 2012. The movie came out in 2014 which Marvel Comics capitalized on by launching a new GotG series without Warlock, which I was fine with.

The Formerly Modern Era (‘14-’23)

It’s hard to review an era while you’re still in it and even when you’re at the end. The success of the GotG movie led to a lot of new GotG-related comics but with the movie’s cast. Spare a thought for those poor fans of the original series who at least got something to work with from the DnA era. The MCU movies also renewed interest in Thanos who got new comics as well. And sometimes people remembered Warlock could be there too. Marvel also wanted to play nice with Jim Starlin who was becoming known in the non-comics media and had never been afraid to voice his opinions on the page or in an interview. What wound up happening for Warlock is that he was involved in stories along two separate paths: the main comics involved him in a long crossover story about the Infinity Gems and Starlin was given his own corner to play in.

The long story was mostly by writer Gerry Duggan and spun from his GotG revival into Infinity Countdown to Infinity Wars to Infinity Warps to Wolverine: Infinity Watch. The end result was the Infinity Gems were merged with normal people who became new characters. Warlock was there to provide some legitimacy. So far, only one of the new characters has made much of an impact but there’s still time. Unless some other creator comes along and wants to bring the Gems back and undoes all that hard work. Some of these comics looked very nice with art by Aaron Kuder or Mike Allred.

Starlin wrote a series of miniseries and graphic novels that were drawn by himself or Alan Davis, at last drawing the actual adventures of Warlock. The through-line of these series was Thanos with some involvement by Warlock and Thanos’ brother Eros. This was an enjoyable series that delivered new Starlin and offered some new perspective on Thanos at this stage in his life and at a few others through time travel. There’s even a second Warlock who ascends to fill a vacant role in Marvel’s cosmic hierarchy. Good comics for someone wanting more of this.

The MCU and the Future (’23…)

Now, I write days before Adam Warlock’s first live-action adaptation is released into theaters for the general public. After a tease at the end of 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, he’ll appear in Vol. 3 played by Will Poulter. 

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies have been varying degrees of enjoyable and faithful adaptations. It should be noted that there is little correlation between those aspects. Some of the least faithful adaptations in the franchise have been the GotG characters. For instance, Starlord in the comics was a worn down hero while the movie version is a music-obsessed, sleazy goofball. Comic Drax was human reincarnated as an engine of destruction, sometimes smart, sometimes dumb while in the MCU he’s an overly-literal, insensitive alien. Comic Nebula was a pirate with dubious claims of being Thanos’ grand-daughter to establish clout but MCU Nebula is an abductee shaped and mentored by Thanos who grew up alongside Gamora. Yondu was a hunter turned freedom fighter in the 31st century which was translated to a space pirate in the 21st century. The Infinity Gems were gems, in the MCU they were called stones.

The process of adaptation requires changing things to work in the new medium or to say something new. That’s not, in and of itself, a negative thing. The problem is that comics tend to let the movie’s tail wag the dog. In the comics, Starlord became younger, resembled the actor Chris Pratt, wore the movie’s costume and listened to cassette tapes. Nebula and Gamora now have a close relationship retconned into their history despite not interacting on panel together until 2006, decades after their first appearances. Rather than change the original Yondu, he gained a space pirate 21st century ancestor. The comics began calling the Gems “Stones” because we have always been at war with Eastasia.

This is not a new phenomenon. Superman’s hometown Smallville is in Kansas because that’s its state in the 1978 movie. For a brief period, Spider-Man shot webs from his wrists rather than his wrist-mounted mechanical web shooters because that was part of his powers in the 2002 movie. The Justice League cartoon said Green Lantern John Stewart was a marine and so that became his defining characteristic in the comic books.

Since we’re likely to get Adam Warlock comics based on the Adam Warlock of the MCU, I hope this is a good one. Warlock was teased at the end of Vol 2. as the heroes had previously upset a group called the Sovereign and their leader Ayesha (played by Elizabeth Debicki) who hoped her new creation Adam would soon emerge from his cocoon to enact her revenge. Gunn has said that he originally planned for Warlock to be in Vol 2. but didn’t have enough time; it’s easy to imagine Warlock in place of the Sovereign fleet in the movie’s big climactic battle. Right away we get a change as Her makes Him. 

In the previews for Vol 3., we see the High Evolutionary is the villain, a character with a history of making animals more like humans. We also see a planet that looks like Earth, like the HE’s Counter-Earth. In the comics, Rocket Raccoon is from a planet that served as a hospital with animals who were made more like humans serving there. It seems a straightforward conjecture that the HE will now be inserted into Rocket’s background. Rocket’s people will be the New Men and they will live on Counter-Earth.

Given that set-up, I wonder if this will be the first movie to dare to ask: What if a man didn’t have a good relationship with his father which then caused him to have intimacy issues but despite that had, in fact, he has since formed closer bonds with former strangers who could now be considered a family? Would any filmmaker be bold enough to broach such a taboo subject?

Going a step further with actual plot predictions, perhaps the Sovereign will be revealed as a later experiment by the HE which ties Warlock’s origins to the HE. It would have been easy to do that in the comics but in all this time, no one has dared/bothered to cross that line. Will a misguided attempt to be more like their more-popular, younger sibling force Marvel Comics to imitate their own adaptation?

Gunn has also described his movie’s Warlock as “the infant form of Warlock, newly out of the cocoon, and he does not understand life very well. He’s basically a baby.” Which sounds like Him, not Warlock. If MCU Warlock is rash and impulsive and maybe gullible, will the comics attempt to erase all that was interesting about Warlock in the last 50 years? I wouldn’t be surprised.

It’s not that that would automatically be a bad thing but it seems like a waste. Why use a character if you don’t want to use what’s interesting about a character? But I fear the company will demand towers of garbage be built instead of letting Artists slip in their diamonds.

Maybe it’s a positive sign that they’ve just launched Warlock: Rebirth, the latest in a series of retroactive continuity-insert mini-series set back in the company’s higher-selling past by the people who made the books at the time. This series is by old Warlock pros Rons Marz and Lim set during the Infinity Watch and the already-released first issue introduced a new mysterious member of the Warlock family. I realize it doesn’t say anything good about Marvel Comics or me that I’m on board for them to play the hits. 

As long as Marvel Comics sees value in Warlock comics, they’ll never stop making them and I could be reading them forever. So I’d prefer this Infinity Read leads to something new and daring with a statement to make… but I’ll take something familiar over a mandated pile of imitations.