The real meaning behind the Guardians of the Galaxy's post-credits scene.

The Easter egg within the Easter egg.

So here's hoping most of you have seen GotG and loved it as much as I did. In fact, I'm gonna watch it again soon. Spoilers below.

static.comicvine.com

Anyways, if you've seen it, then you've also probably seen the post-credits scene. I still don't understand how people watch a Marvel/X-Men movie without staying until the end. I mean, don't they know already by now??? That said, if you did wait for it, then you were also probably disappointed at what appeared. Everybody was expecting a real good tease about what the next GotG movie would be about, or at least for any other Marvel movie in the continuity. Because, that's how it's been up til now right? 

Instead, viewers were left with a nothing scene, of The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) in the wake of his destroyed lair. Whatever living thing he had in his collection have been released and this includes Cosmo the Spacedog, and the surprise appearance, Howard the Duck, who is actually also a Marvel character. 

Howard the Duck, as he appears in GotG - www.businessinsider.com

The inclusion of Howard the Duck is nothing more than a fun cameo, or tribute of sorts. Why? Simply because one of the artists who created the Guardians, also was involved in originating Howard the Duck. 

The real question is, is that the only message they were trying to convey? Everybody thank Emergency Awesome, because that's where I learned about the following. 

Of course, we don't have a video to look at that scene again, right now. But there is footage of the post-credits scene from Thor: The Dark World.

The picture is small, so you might want to view it on full screen. You only need to see the first 10 seconds of the clip. Notice the yellow/brown-ish thingy that the 3 characters walk past? That's the subject we shall talk about. 

That thingy, has been confirmed to be the cocoon, of a character named Adam Warlock. I'm not gonna do a character bio on him, but Warlock himself, is a really big character in the Marvel Universe. 

Comparison of Adam Warlock's cocoon, film vs comics - www.ign.com

So now we know, The Collector, has in his possession, Adam Warlock - a Messiah-like figure, a very important character in Marvel.

Now, back to the post-credits of GotG, I'm sure nobody can remember what appears, frame for frame, but basically, The Collector was sitting among his ruins and Cosmo licks his face. Apparently, in the background of this scene, the cocoon appears to be broken, and Adam Warlock is assumed to be running free in the galaxy. This presents us with an intriguing scenario that Warlock is now a free agent, able to appear in any Marvel movie from now. Most probably, that's going to be GotG 2 in 2017. 

Adam Warlock - marvel.wikia.com

It's impossible to predict how it may play out, but should Adam Warlock appear, it would be easy to connect him to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as his back story involves the Soul Gem. As it is formally explained in GotG, the Infinity Gems/Stones will play an important part in the story. There are also evil versions of him, so Marvel may opt to use him as a bit of a wild card, with Adam not being on any clear side. 

Adam Warlock is mostly associated with story arcs which include Thanos (played by Josh Brolin in films) and the Infinity Gauntlet. We all know that is roughly where Marvel is heading with all this: a film where Thanos has gathered the Infinity Stones/Gems and the Infinity Gauntlet, and threatens existence itself. 

Josh Brolin teasing the Infinity Gauntlet at Marvel's SDCC 2014 panel. - www.ibtimes.co.uk

If this happens, it will be an adaptation of the Infinity Gauntlet comic, in which Adam Warlock plays a pivotal role. So really, there is a big chance, we'll be seeing Adam Warlock on screen some time from now. 

So instead of a direct tease, Marvel left this one for viewers to spot and find out. That, or maybe they're just undecided over what's really going to happen next. Adam Warlock is a fairly powerful character whose powers involve cosmic energy. The MCU has not seen characters of such levels yet (Thor has been massively downgraded to not overshadow the other Earth heroes), but with Thanos lurking, it's only a matter of time until Marvel goes beyond godlike and the action gets a massive upgrade. 

We won't know until it happens but until then, here are some things we can expect.

Evil version of Adam Warlock fighting Gamora - toylab.blogspot.com

Adam Warlock (centre) lining up with other characters from the GotG comics - news.comicui.com

Oh, and as a bonus Josh and Germaine were telling me the other day, how they thought the planet Xandar reminded them of Singapore's Gardens By The Bay. Turns out, they are right! Good spot! Read the article here.