•Adamantium has finally been put to use in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with episode 2 of VisionQuest marking the first time the metal appears in the franchise’s main timeline.
The assassin Paladin, played by Todd Stashwick, uses adamantium bullets to damage Vision — or White Vision — during the second episode of VisionQuest, which debuted Oct. 13 on Disney Plus alongside its premiere. This marks the first time anyone has made use of adamantium in the main timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, despite Disney acquiring Fox — and with it the ability to use the metal in storylines — back in 2019.
The history of adamantium in the comics
Adamantium has commonly been associated with X-Men stories, as it is most famously the metal coating Wolverine’s skeleton. His claws being made of adamantium dates to his first appearance, when he fought the Hulk in The Incredible Hulk issue 181 from 1974. In that comic, Wolverine’s claws were part of his gloves rather than originating from his body, but he did describe them as being made from “diamond-hard adamantium.”
In 1975, Wolverine transitioned from a one-off Hulk villain to a member of the new X-Men lineup, at which point it was established that his skeleton was coated in adamantium and that his claws rest in his forearms, piercing through his skin when extended.
Because of the metal’s association with Wolverine, adamantium remained off-limits to Marvel Studios and its films as it was tied up with Fox until 2019.
The metal predates even Wolverine’s first appearance. It was first mentioned in Avengers issue number 66 from July 1969, when it was described as the substance making up Ultron’s outer shell. That comic was written by Roy Thomas and drawn by Barry Windsor-Smith and Syd Shores, who are credited as adamantium’s creators.
The metal’s appearance in VisionQuest is somewhat fitting given this origin, as Vision was originally intended to be the final form of Ultron in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In the MCU, both Vision and Ultron are made from vibranium instead.
Adamantium in the MCU
Adamantium first appeared in the main timeline in Captain America: Brave New World, though its presence there was minimal. In the film, President Thaddeus Ross, played by Harrison Ford, explains that adamantium is a new metal discovered on Celestial Island.
Celestial Island is not actually an island; it is a corpse. Back in the 2021 film Eternals, it was revealed that Earth holds the seed for a giant godlike alien known as a Celestial, specifically one called Tiamut the Communicator. In that movie, as Tiamut emerges from the Earth, an Eternal named Sersi, played by Gemma Chan, kills him by turning him to stone, saving the planet in the process. From that point on, Tiamut becomes merely an island formation in the Indian Ocean.
Ross explains in Brave New World that after the island’s emergence, competing nations rushed there searching for resources. Inside the island they discovered adamantium, which Ross calls “the discovery of the millennium” due to its potential applications in tech, medicine, and defense. He also states it is even more indestructible than vibranium.
The first — and at that time only — refined sample of adamantium had been stolen from a Japanese mining site on the island by SERPENT, a criminal organization led by Sidewinder, played by Giancarlo Esposito. Sam Wilson/Captain America, played by Anthony Mackie, recovers the sample early in the movie.
The film famously underwent significant changes during production, leading some speculate that adamantium may have played a larger role in an earlier version of the film.
There is also some debate as to whether SERPENT — and specifically member Copperhead, played by Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson — used adamantium in that movie. The Marvel Wiki states that SERPENT enhanced their weapons with adamantium and that Copperhead’s blades were made of the metal, but this is never actually shown or stated on screen. The bullets from SERPENT’s guns simply bounce off Cap’s shield without scratching it, as do Copperhead’s blades.
The article notes it is difficult to understand how a terrorist organization like SERPENT would be able to refine such a complicated element, and concludes there is nothing to support the idea that any of their weapons featured adamantium enhancement.
In contrast, Paladin’s bullets in VisionQuest are definitively made from adamantium. They are stated to be composed of the metal and inflict significant damage on Vision, which regular bullets cannot do to his vibranium form. This marks the first time anyone has used adamantium within the main timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.</
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