Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
After being released only a few days ago, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is holding strong with great reviews. What is particularly special about the movie is how Guardians treated Adam Warlock as opposed to how Kang The Conqueror was handled in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
When analyzing these two movies side by side, Adam Warlock (played by Will Poulter) is comparable to Kang (played by Jonathan Majors). The artificially created perfect human has among many powers, superhuman strength, the ability to fly, transport instantly, manipulate energy, and as an added feature, he has quantum magic on his side. Those are just a few of his special powers but also he has a cosmic awareness that should make him completely undefeatable. The fact that he can resurrect himself should be an obsolete power he’ll never have to use even if his strengths increase each time he does it.
An extremely genius individual, Kang engineered a suit of armor that gives him strength, can produce energy, protect itself with force fields, and gives him superhuman speed. With these powers, Kang is said to be able to go up against even the most powerful Avenger.
Even though both of these characters are highly intelligent geniuses, they manage to get out-smarted by every hero they go up against. Warlock throws temper tantrums just like a child when he doesn’t get his way, another trait they share. However, the singular strongest comparison between the two is how they both go in without a plan, attack blindly, and let their emotions get to them so that they are attacking in a fit of rage rather than using their heads.
They are two very similar characters but when it comes down to it, Adam did it better. He looked cool while he was fighting even when he was losing. Plus, it’s ridiculous for a character to have superhuman powers and not use them in a fight. The ability to blast someone or manipulate energy to throw them across the room is how fighting should be done with that kind of power. Kang basically kept taking a knife to a gunfight when he would use his fists instead of his powers. Adam didn’t have that problem. He knew his arsenal well and he used it.
With an 8..4/10 IMDb score and an 81% Rotten Tomatoes rating, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is definitely worth seeing. Plus, the mid-credits scene is worth catching because it gives the viewers a chance to see what the future holds for Adam Warlock.