Will Poulter: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 left me in tears

Based on the procession of random people walking past in the background, Will Poulter appears to be sitting in the lobby of a hotel room when the Zoom call with TODAY connects.

The British actor apologises for the dodgy wi-fi at his end, and laughs at the suggestion he could make amends for the inconvenience by dropping some juicy hints about the plot of his latest movie, the Marvel blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.

“I think that sounds like a fair trade,” he jokes, knowing full well that Marvel studio boss Kevin Feige would happily use Thanos’ infinity gauntlet to punish any actor who leaked a spoiler.

“Just a click of his fingers and you’d fade away, I can believe that,” Poulter says with a smile.

Mystery surrounds Poulter’s part in Vol. 3, ever since the star from We’re the Millers and Dopesick was cast to play Adam Warlock, a being of immense power in the comic books.

The character, a virtually invincible, lab-grown chap, with abilities to rival Captain Marvel, oscillates between good and evil, and, in the comic universe, plays a significant role with the Guardians and Kang the Conqueror, the big bad of the current Multiverse Saga.

Suffice to say, Marvel’s many fans are ecstatic to see Adam Warlock make his long-awaited big-screen debut, but this excitement also brings considerable expectation around Poulter’s performance.

“To a degree, it’s out of my control, certainly people’s reception of it is out of my control,” the 30-year-old admits.

“So, I think I just tried to focus as best as possible on all that I could control, which was how much I kind of work with (director James Gunn) to craft something that we thought would satisfy the storyline.”

And, without giving too much away, this storyline sees Adam Warlock come into conflict with the Guardians, setting off a chain of events that puts Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) at the centre of it.

“This is Adam Warlock in his infancy, and this is him in a sort of childlike state, at this early stage of what is, I think, an introduction to the character,” Poulter explains.

“And I wanted to make sure that, tonally, I was fitting in with the other Guardians crew, and bridging that divide (between) having a foot in both the comedy and the dramatic space, and I think James has done that so well.”

With Vol. 3, like the other movies in the multi-billion dollar franchise, Gunn has deftly combined rib-tickling gags with moments of genuine emotion, and it was the latter that bubbled to the surface at a cast appearance at ComicCon last year.

Even for a newcomer to the franchise such as Poulter, the significance of GOTG 3 as a finale for this set of characters was inescapable.

“We’re on stage, and, next thing you know, we’re all kind of in tears, and I think it was then, at least for me, that it really dawned on me just what a combination of everyone’s efforts and time this had been (since the first movie in 2014),” Poulter says.

It remains to be seen whether Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana’s Gamora or Dave Bautista’s Drax the Destroyer will grace our screens again, or whether we’ll hear Vin Diesel say “I am Groot” once more.

But, in Poulter’s Adam Warlock, we have at least one character in GOTG 3 destined to return, and he’s as powerful as any in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Almost.

“I couldn’t have Chris Hemsworth’s biceps, even if I wanted them,” Poulter laughs.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is in cinemas on May 4.