Thor is not returning in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock’s power levels prove why the MCU hero needed to appear.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 needs Thor to return thanks to the power levels of its villains, High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock. Chris Hemsworth’s god of thunder appeared poised for an appearance in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 after Avengers: Endgame. The events of Thor: Love and Thunder separated him from the team once again, but James Gunn has confirmed that there was never a version of his script that had Thor return. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will instead close out the trilogy with the focus staying squarely on the main team that started the franchise.

Not having the Asgardians of the Galaxy unite in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will mean that the ragtag group has an even more difficult challenge ahead. The Phase 5 movie is introducing two new major Marvel Cinematic Universe villains for the team to fight. High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) is Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s main villain. It is also known that Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) will be an antagonistic force who makes life tough on the team. With the possibility of High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock working together looming, the Guardians of the Galaxy 3 villains prove why Thor should have returned.

High Evolutionary & Adam Warlock Are Too Powerful For The Guardians

Simply put, High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock are too powerful villains for the Guardians of the Galaxy team to take on alone. The Guardians of the Galaxy 3 trailers have only teased each of their powers, showing glimpses of High Evolutionary levitating and energy beams shooting from Adam Warlock. High Evolutionary’s powers include super strength, creating force fields, and much more, while Adam Warlock can fly, manipulate energy, and is practically immortal. Individually and especially together they pose a massive threat to the Guardians team.

Based on the power levels of the Guardians of the Galaxy members and how the MCU has portrayed each character, it is difficult to imagine them getting the better of either villain. Star-Lord does not have his Celestial powers anymore, leaving him and Rocket with only specialty guns at their disposal. Gamora, Drax, and Nebula are trained warriors with super strength and other abilities, but even they are not strong enough to realistically take down Guardians of the Galaxy 3‘s villains. Even Mantis does not frequently use her powers for fighting, while Groot is just a tree.

Thor’s Powers Would Have Helped The Guardians

Thor’s return in Guardians of the Galaxy 3 would allow his powers to make the fight between the Guardians and High Evolutionary and/or Adam Warlock more equal. The god of thunder was already the most powerful member of the team during his brief time with them, but Thor is also one of the MCU’s most powerful characters overall. Thor fighting High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock is believable, as he could go toe-to-toe with either one on his own. He became an even more useful ally to the Guardians after leaving them in Thor: Love and Thunder, though.

The MCU Phase 4 movie became another example of Thor’s powers increasing to new heights. However, his newfound ability to share his powers with other people would be especially helpful for the Guardians of the Galaxy. If Guardians of the Galaxy 3 had Thor return, he could have given his Asgardian powers to each member of the team. This would immediately make the team a true superpowered group with more than enough powers to defeat High Evolutionary and Adam Warlock. Instead, Thor’s absence from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 could be felt greatly as the team battles these powerful villains.