Summary
When it comes to power in the Marvel Universe, it doesn’t get much more impressive thanGalactus- a gigantic energy being who consumes entire worlds to satiate his never-ending hunger. However, as godlike as Galactus is, he’s not totally unknowable, and over the years, Marvel has revealed a number of cosmic truths about his role in the universe and his larger ‘species.’.
One such reveal comes in 2010’sGalacta: Daughter of Galactus, by Adam Warren and Hector Sevilla Lujan. Thestory follows Galactus' daughter, who it’s revealed lives on Earth, having sworn to only feast on non-native beings. In practice, this means she hunts down alien invaders, consuming them to keep herself alive on a cosmic starvation diet. However, that changes when she developsa"tapeworm cosmic"- a parasitic energy being which siphons off her energy, making her hungrier and more dangerous than ever.
However, the comic ends with the reveal that Galacta’s description of the ‘tapeworm’ isn’t quite right -Galactus explains that the parasitic waveform is actually how their ‘species’ reproduces, and that Galacta herself was once a similar energy leech which manifested within his own wavelength. The horrifying, insect-like creature that fans have seen throughout the issue isn’t a parasite that feeds on Galactus' species - it’s their larval form.
Marvel Was Long Overdue To Make Galactus Absolutely Terrifying Again (& Now He’s More Dangerous Than Ever)
After years of treating 1 villain like an easy-to-beat joke, Marvel Comics finally made its premier ‘big bad’ terrifying again (just like his debut).
Galactus' parasite form isn’t new - pretty much everywhere but the mainstream comics, Marvel has chosen to depict Galactus as some kind of cosmic insect.
Galactus Reproduces in the Freakiest Way Possible
His ‘Species’ Start Out as “Cosmic Tapeworms”
WhileGalactais of questionable canon in the Marvel Universe (though her recentinclusion in the gameMarvel Rivalshas given her more prominence than ever before), the idea of Galactus reproducing via spontaneous energy parasites makes sense given the way he moves through the universe, feasting on populated planets. Indeed, in everything fromFantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surferto alternate realities likeTimeslip, the Marvel Mangaverse, the Ultimate Universe, and the Cancerverse, Galactus is redesigned as exactly the kind of insectoid parasite that Galacta finds herself ‘pregnant’ with.
However, while many different comics have imagined Galactus as a leech-like threat to existence, the truth in Marvel’s main continuity is even stranger -the Devourer of Worlds doesn’t have a ‘real’ appearance, with each species seeing him in a different way.
Marvel Officially Updates Its Ranking of Gods with the DEMIURGE PRIMORDIAL
The Marvel Universe is full of powerful god-like beings, and now the hierarchy of power has changed with the introduction of a new god.
Galactus isn’t actually a giant human in purple armor - that’s just how humans see him, with different species seeing their own forms.
Galactus' Appearance Changes According to Who Can See Him
However, the Devourer of Worlds' Helmet IS Real
Galactus is a being of pure energy, and thus has no actual ‘appearance’ other than blazing light. The giant purple human that fans know isjust how humans see Galactus, since his cosmic presence exists on a level beyond literal comprehension.
Every species sees Galactus as something familiar, with various comics (most famously John Byrne and Glynis Wein’sFantastic Four #262) confirming that he has a totally different appearance in the eyes of different species. This even extends to animals, withThe UnbeatableSquirrel Girl #4(from Ryan North, Erica Henderson and Chris Giarrusso) confirming that to squirrels, Galactus appears as a giant squirrel, though still in his traditional armor. This makes sense, given that unlike his ‘human’ form, Galactus' armordoesexist in some real fashion.
Galactus' power is so extreme that he actually has to tamp down his cosmic significance, withGalactus: The Origin(by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Vince Coletta, and George Klein) confirming thathe created his iconic helmetin order to suppress his full power. While the ‘true’ form of his armor is questionable (since the reader is only seeing the version of Galactus they can comprehend),the Devourer of Worldsdoeswear some kind of armor to help him harness his godlike Power Cosmic.
Avengers Introduces a New Marvel God Who Makes Galactus Look Weak
Marvel’s Avengers Beyond introduces a new god, the Lost One, who makes Galactus and all the other cosmic beings look weak, including the Beyonders.
Every cycle of creation has its own Devourer, with Galactus being the sixth in the lineage - preceded by Omnimax and What-Must-Be, and destined to be followed by the Fantastic Four’s Franklin Richards.
Galactus Doesn’t Technically Have a ‘Species,’ But He Also Isn’t the First
Omnimax and What-Must-Be Reveal Galactus' Lineage
While Galactus doesn’t really have a larger ‘species,’ he is a ‘type’ of being rather than a truly unique cosmic entity. Over the years, Marvel has revealed that Galactus doesn’t just exist to destroy. He’s actually storing energy which - come the end of the current version of the cosmos - will be used to kickstart the next cycle of creation. Currently, Marvel exists in its Eighth Cosmos, with the recentDefendersfrom Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez revealing much of what came before.
Marvel’s multiverse is always evolving, andit all began with the First Cosmos- a simple, archetypal reality where a golden hero of creation and black dragon of destruction were locked in combat. When that Cosmos ended, a new one was born, and on and on, with each adding something new to the nature of reality, including science, magic, and plurality (the existence of multiple universes within a wider multiverse.)
Like most cosmic concepts in Marvel Lore, each Cosmos has a sentience, andthey band together as the Ultimate Ultimateswhen the cycle of creation faces a big enough threat.
Each Devourer of Worlds is created by merging with the dying essence of the Cosmos in which they existed as a mortal.In Galactus' case, heused to be the scientist Galan of Taa, becoming the latest Devourer of Worlds after merging with the sentience of the dying Sixth Cosmos. Of course, this suggests there had been five prior Devourers, and fans have met several of them.
Galactus' Mom Delivers the Final Verdict on His Hero/Villain Status
Galactus' mother Taiaa just learned the truth about her son becoming the Devourer of Worlds, and has a surprise reaction to the shocking revelation
Before Galactus,the Devourer of the Sixth Cosmos was Omnimax- formerly the sorcerer Moridun. Marvel’s first Sorcerer Supreme, Moridun was born in the Fifth Cosmos, which was the cycle of creation which brought magic into existence. Even earlier was What-Must-Be/What-Can-Be - a monstrous being from the Fourth Cosmos (a world of powerful archetypes rather than actual individuals), which oscillates between a destroyer and healer personality.
Galactus is vital to the cycle of creation - if his power is ever stolen by the Cthulhu-esque One-Below-All, then all of reality will permanently grind to a halt.
Galactus may just be thelatestDevourer, but there are still ways in which he’s unique. One way in which this is true is that he retains far more of his humanity than prior Devourers. It was revealed inDefenders #2(Ewing and Rodriguez) that this is because theSilver Surfer encountered a young Galanwhile traveling through time, using the Power Cosmic to make sure that Galactus always retains some semblance of human morality. This has allowed Galactus to be reasoned with on many occasions, but it also meanshe lives with some sense of the suffering and death he causes.
Mark Waid and Javier Rodríguez’sHistory of the Marvel Universeconfirmed that Franklin Richards(the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman) is destined to become the Devourer of the Ninth Cosmos, taking Galactus' place in the cosmic order. However, Al Ewing and Joe Bennett’sImmortal Hulkrevealed a potential timeline where the Hulk (possessed by the demonic being the One-Below-All) kills Franklin and takes the power for himself, corrupting the role and ending the cycle of creation forever.This shows how vital Galactus actually is - if he doesn’t do his ‘job,’ then all of reality will end for good.
Marvel’s current Eighth Cosmos is an exact copy of the Seventh, due to the events of 2015’sSecret Wars, where the cosmos was destroyed and then recreated. This makes Galactus the first Devourer to retain the role over two different Cosmos cycles.
Even Galactus Admits He’s Scared of Marvel’s Most Powerful Villain
Even the mighty Galactus, Devourer of Worlds and master of the Power Cosmic, fears one specific Marvel villain who could erase him with a thought.
Galactus is so powerful, an entire cosmic species has evolved to act as a ‘body’ for him when he wants to manifest on the physical plane.
Galactus Was Designed as ‘God,’ But Got More Complex
The Devourer of Worlds Is Part of a Cosmic Ecosystem
Of course, even an apex predator exists in an ecosystem, and over the years Galactus' place in the cosmos has been expanded and clarified. Notably, Galactus serves to protect his home reality from multiversal threats -predators like Abraxas and Hungerare kept at bay by Galactus standing guard at the walls of reality. The Ultimate Ultimates helped to explain the larger cycle of each cosmos' Devourer, while the introduction of the Black Winter confirmed that Galactus' rebirth wasn’t as simple as it seemed, and thereareforces which can alter or prevent the birth of each new Devourer.
There are also symbiotic species like the Manifestations - a cosmic alien species which create ‘M-Bodies’ for higher lifeforms like Galactus, essentially acting as a body for them to inhabit on the physical realm when they need to take a direct hand in cosmic affairs. The existence of this species - revealed in Mark Gruenwald and Greg Capullo’sQuasar #37- revealedhow powerfully alien Galactus actually is.Not only does he lack a true physical body, but an entire species has evolved to serve the need for him to manifest, feeding off his spare Power Cosmic in the process.
Marvel Officially Reveals the Origin of Its Ultimate Villain, the One Below All
The One Below All is Marvel’s ultimate force of evil, and now the Hulk has uncovered his cosmic origin, redefining Marvel lore.
As Galactus' co-creator Jack Kirby stated in many interviews (and as noted byThe Jack Kirby Museum),Galactus was conceived as the Marvel Universe’s take on an omnipotent, ineffable God- something that was more of a natural, cosmic process than a villain. However, superhero comics never stop building on a good idea, and while Galactus retains much of his awe-inspiring status, today he’s a far more complex entity who may seem godlike to humans, but can be understood as one part of a necessary process going back to the dawn of creation.
It’s easy for Galactus' victims to see him as a parasite - indeed, even Galacta herself made that assumption about her own species - but ultimatelyGalactusis both necessary and unknowable, embodying the infinite mystery that makes the Marvel Universe so unique.
