James Gunn is currently dealing with an embarrassment of comic book based riches. He's currently working on The Suicide Squad for WB and DC, and will soon be moving on to work on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 for Disney and Marvel. The long-delayed end of the trilogy is expected to finally get underway this year, but beyond that little is known about how the movie itself will fit into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or follow the other two Guardians movies. And James Gunn himself just debunked a rumor regarding a potential character that could appear in the movie, Adam Warlock, much to the disappointment of one Seth Rogen.
It probably wasn't too much of a shock when a report recently made the rounds that casting was underway for the character of Adam Warlock for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. After all, the character has been rumored for the film since the end of the last movie. According to said rumor, the movie was looking for a "Zac-Efron type" to play the part. The only problem is that the report is apparently untrue, as James Gunn himself took it to task, claiming that no casting was underway, and the details of what the movie was allegedly looking for in a potential actor were untrue. This was particularly devastating news for one Seth Rogen, who was apparently all set to send in a head shot.
In one of the mid-credits scenes in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, we see that the gold skinned Sovereign race, led by a woman named Ayesha, are in the midst of creating an artificial being named Adam who she plans to use to destroy our heroes. This appears to have been a reference to a popular Marvel Comics character named Adam Warlock, and it's had people suspecting since 2017 that the character would appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, though it's never been confirmed that will happen.
James Gunn is unequivocal in his denial of the facts here, calling the original story "nonsense." In a later tweet he says that articles sources, while unnamed, must be lying, because none of what was originally reported was true. To be clear, this does not mean that Adam Warlock won't be a character in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, but it does seem clear that even if the character does appear, nobody is looking for an actor to play him yet, and there is no hint of what sort of actor might be cast.
So, to be fair, maybe Seth Rogen does have a decent shot at being cast as Adam Warlock. I mean, he doesn't exactly look the way Adam Warlock is traditionally depicted in comics, but there's no reason the movie version can't take the character in a different direction. However, James Gunn jokes that Rogen won't work in the role because, while the movie is allegedly looking for a "Zac Efron type" Seth Rogen is actually too close to the mark.
This isn't the first time we've heard the name of Zac Efron in connection with Adam Warlock, though now the rumor seems to have shifted from Efron himself to simply an "Efron type," whatever that means. It still seems fairly likely that Adam Warlock as a character may appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3, but what that character will look like when and if we see him is still a big question. Probably not like Zac Efron, though.
