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The latest trailer of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 gives us our first look at High Evolutionary. After seeing plenty of new and powerful villains in Marvel's phase 4, the High Evolutionary will prove why he is the boss. Director James Gunn brought actor Chukwudi Iwuji from his Peacemaker series into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as Herbert Wyndham, aka the High Evolutionary.
But who is this character?
GOTG 3 villain: The origin of High Evolutionary
The High Evolutionary was introduced in Thor #134 back in 1966. Unlike what Guardians vol. 3 makes us think, he has a very Earth-based origin story. He is a brilliant human biologist who grew up in England and was originally called Dr. Herbert Wyndham. Obsessed with the concept of evolution, he used science to transform humans and animals into hybrids.
His scientific experiments didn’t just stick to other animals. He even evolved himself, which resulted in him having a higher intellect than any regular human. In fact, one can argue that his scientific knowledge even supersedes the likes of Reed Richards, Doctor Doom, Tony Stark, and Hank Pym. His transformation also gave him quite a few powers and abilities.
Herbert became so intelligent that he could engineer his own replica of Earth, called Counter-Earth. This planet was populated with many individuals that he had evolved with his experiments. Over time, he impacted the lives of heroes like Thor, Black Knight, Adam Warlock, and Spider-Woman.
There was an instance when he moved to a place on Earth called Mount Wundagore, Wanda’s birthplace. Due to one of Marvel’s retcons in 2010, he became responsible for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s powers.
Mount Wundagore was populated with manually evolved beings created by Wyndham, and they were named the New Men. One of those was Bova the Cow, who helped raise Wanda. But instead of Mount Wundagore, we’re probably getting these hybrids shown in the opening of the new GOTG Vol 3 trailer.
The High Evolutionary has been a hero at times as he was also responsible for Adam Warlock and even gave him the Soul Stone. He sent Warlock on a mission to defeat one of his creations, a villain called the Man-Beast. That’s how Adam Warlock turned into a hero. He might be responsible for Adam Warlock’s creation in the MCU as well.
But despite a few heroics, High Evolutionary has mostly been a villain due to his knack for playing God with his creations. And as teased by Chukwudi Iwuji’s stint at SDCC 2022, he is the absolute worst even in the MCU.
The powers and abilities of High Evolutionary
In the comics, not only does Herbert Wyndham possess a high intellect, but his transformation process even gave him superhuman strength. With his added strength, he became a master combatant and could prove his mettle against any fighter. He also became highly durable and could withstand attacks from energy beams. So, Peter Quill’s blasters may be ineffective against him.
He can cause serious damage to his opponents as he can also project energy blasts from his hands. What’s crazy is that he even gained the Astral Projection ability that Doctor Strange has, as he can separate his spirit from his physical form and survive in this state indefinitely.
He unlocked immortality by altering his genetic code to achieve eternal life. He can also manipulate his mass by increasing or decreasing his size, which allows him to grow up to 300 feet at max. Giant Man, who??? This guy is the real deal! And then there’s the ability to communicate telepathically with others.
When this wasn’t enough, Wyndham gave himself an added armor that could withstand attacks from beings like Captain Marvel or perhaps the Hulk.
High Evolutionary in GOTG Vol. 3
It is highly likely that all these powers and abilities will not make their way into Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. James Gunn will have to nerf him down a bit. He could be an enhanced individual who wears a special suit of armor. But his specialty would be his creations.
He could be affiliated with Ayesha, as he might be the one who created Adam and gave him to her. Like the comics, he could also be the one to give Adam the title of “Warlock.”
But more than Adam, his biggest creation would be Rocket Raccoon. This was teased back in the first Guardians movie, where Rocket talked about how he was cybernetically engineered by being repeatedly torn apart and put back. So, the true battle would be between Rocket and the High Evolutionary.
After all, James Gunn has already stated multiple times that this final Guardians movie will be special for Rocket Raccoon. Since the MCU usually changes things up from the comics, the High Evolutionary may or may not have anything to do with his Earth-based comic origins. He may have belonged to some other planet where he became obsessed with the concept of evolution.
He probably picked up animals and beings from several other planets, including a Raccoon from Earth. Then he may have transformed them into highly advanced talking beings like Rocket and even his love interest Lylla. It’ll be interesting to see how different the MCU version of Herbert Wyndham is.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will arrive on May 5, 2023.
