Creating Adam Warlock's Hair In Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Was No Easy Feat
The following post contains spoilers for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3."
The final chapter of the "Guardians of the Galaxy" saga introduced us to the character of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter), and while fans debate whether we got to see enough of him (more Will Poulter, always, please), you have to admit that he is visually great. I mean, look at those golden locks! Of course, his hair isn't the only thing I love, but it's a big part of the character. Look up any images of Adam Warlock from the comics, and his golden mane is very much a part of his costume, either blowing in the wind or falling artfully into his eyes.
As it turns out, the hair on Poulter was no easy task. We civilians may be able to get away with a little gold hairspray from Spirit Halloween to recreate the costume for Comic-Con, but Hair Department Head Cassie Russek went to great lengths to create those shimmering tresses for writer/director James Gunn's final film at Marvel. In a recent interview with Awards Radar, Russek spoke about how Gunn was "so fun to work with" and how excited and enthusiastic he was every time they did a costume parade (where the actors walk by in costume/hair/makeup for his appraisal). She also gave fans a bit of insight into her process for creating Adam Warlock's tresses.
'[We] researched the ever-loving daylights out of the comic'
In her Awards Radar interview, Cassie Russek shared that Adam Warlock's look in the comics was a major inspiration:
"[We] researched the ever-loving daylights out of the comic just to ensure we had everything. I had photos upon photos printed out and even fan art. We made a book so that we could go through it and see what everyone likes and what we could do to make it look like the comic. It was very important to test the hair color. I was in my kitchen going through different gold paints and different gold colors so I could nail it before we got to designing the character. It was a lot of prep and testing."
I love that there was kitchen witchery involved in creating the color. Plus, while there are a whole lot of comic book references for Adam Warlock out there — the character has been around for over five decades — the fact that Russek used fan art as well is lovely. While I wish I knew which specific pieces of fan art she was looking at out of pure curiosity, it's feels like a lovely tribute to those of us who have loved this character for a long time.
'He was such a trooper through the whole process'
It wasn't just the hair department that took part in the process, of course — Will Poulter was also intimately involved and Cassie Russek said that he was a "trooper." She explained to Awards Radar:
"We got to spend a lot of time with Will to create that look. He went through the process every four weeks, through a three-hour hair color process, because we lifted his hair to be very blonde. When we put the gold on his hair, it would be golden. We were lifting in and putting the gold in the hairline to ensure everything read perfectly. We also got his hair golden through a gold spray we created. He was such a trooper through the whole process because he went through a lot of hair and makeup but did great."
If you are a person who has had your hair lightened, you know this is no small thing. (I had my hair bleached to platinum once and ended up with scalp scars from it.) Look, I know you might be thinking, "It's just hair," but sometimes all the work that hair, makeup, costumes, props, and set departments do, don't get the appreciation they deserve. We notice if they're not there, but not as much when they're perfect. The character looks great, and there was a whole team behind it, working like crazy, and I love that we can take a moment to appreciate it.
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is currently in theaters.