After the reveal of Thanos at the end of The Avengers, Marvel fans have anticipated Adam Warlock‘s arrival in the MCU. And while many expected Warlock to make his debut in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn has revealed that Warlock almost had a role in the new sequel, and he will have a major part to play in the future.

Via Slashfilm, Gunn told reporters that he originally wanted to introduce Warlock in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but he ultimately decided to remove him from the story. “I love Adam Warlock,” said Gunn. “He’s one of my favorite characters. In all truth, I wrote an early treatment where I had Adam Warlock as a part…this is your big scoop, because I don’t think I’ve told anybody this… It was Adam Warlock. He was a big part of the screenplay and I realized it was one character too many. And I adored the character. I adored what we had done with him. I think we did something really creative and unique with Adam Warlock. But it was one character too many and I didn’t want to lose Mantis and Mantis was more organically part of the movie anyway. So I decided to save him for later.”

Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige went on to clarify that Warlock will not be appearing in Avengers: Infinity War, “but he will be a part of the future Marvel cosmic universe and a pretty important part of that.”

Given Warlock’s importance to the Infinity Guantlet storyline and his role as Thanos’ primary foil, it is very surprising that he’ll be be left out of the Infinity War movie. Slashfilm noted that neither Gunn nor Feige said outright that Warlock would appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, it seems to be his most likely destination. Earlier this week, Gunn announced that he will return to write and direct the third Guardians of the Galaxy film, so we’d be shocked if Warlock didn’t make his debut in that movie. Warlock does have a history as a member of the Guardians in the Marvel Universe, and his alter ego, the Magus, has also been one of the team’s primary foes.

Adam Warlock was created in the ’60s by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby during their epic Fantastic Four run, but he was fleshed out and further developed by Roy Thomas and Jim Starlin. During Starlin’s original Warlock storyline, he laid the foundation for Warlock’s emergence as one of Marvel’s most prominent cosmic heroes. Within the Marvel Universe, Warlock was artificially created to be the perfect human being. After rebelling against his creators, Warlock traveled the cosmos and encountered Gamora, Pip the Troll, and Thanos himself while opposing the malevolent Universal Church of Truth.

Warlock died at the end of Starlin’s first Thanos storyline, but both characters were revived by Starlin himself in the run up to the Infinity Guantlet crossover event. Since then, both Thanos and Warlock have continued to be major players in the Marvel Universe.

Are you excited to hear that Adam Warlock is coming to the MCU? Who would you cast as Warlock? Share your picks in the comment section below!

Images: Marvel