With the release of Fantastic Four getting closer and closer, the releases and glimpses of the film’s central characters are being released. Despite all the hints that he would look as he does in the comics, fans had been holding their breath waiting for the release of our first look at the Devourer of Worlds himself, Galactus. The wait is no more. The reveal comes courtesy of a Marvel and Snapple promotional poster. While the image was sourced from Japan, that particular image was blurry until someone went ahead and fixed that, giving us our first look at the mighty planet-eater.
As cool as all of this happens to be, there’s little chance Galactus’ appearance in the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps film is going to be his last. He’s too beloved and integral a character to the cosmic balance, as well as being important to characters like Fantastic Four, Thor, Silver Surfer, Carol Danvers, and others. Galactus is no villain. He is no more a villain than a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake. He is simple a force of nature that exists to counter the rampant spread of life.
He has villainous traits in that destruction, death, and the end of civilizations follow him wherever he goes. Even still, the plague accomplished the same feat and it’s not a villain. Some things just are and do because they must. Even in the face of the destruction he causes, Galactus always sends his herald to warn the population before he arrives. While his herald for this film is Shalla-Bal aka Silver Surfer, many others have held the role, including the primary character to have held the role, Norrin Radd.
Even though Galactus is not and has never been a villain, he has been a hero. For a period of time in the Ultimate Universe, Galactus was known as the Lifebringer. Given that the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four: First Steps will be from a different universe than the primary MCU, there’s a chance he could become an ally during Avengers: Secret Wars. Since incursions cause the destruction of entire multiverses, it’s possible that Galactus has some role to play as he is an elder of the First Firmament. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. It just means that Galactus has been around in some form or fashion since the first era of a multiverse; in other words, he’s been around since nearly the beginning of time.
To answer a question some of you may have, I don’t know if Galactus is going to be a “Celestial” within the MCU. He’s very much his own things in the comics. He has gone toe-to-toe with Celestials before and lived to tell the tale. He contains the power of a Celestial, but not necessarily the powers of a Celestial, if that makes sense. He has tremendous power and can counter anything they throw at him, but he isn’t in the business of seeding life so much as destroying it. He’s basically an Anti-Celestial in the same sense that Anti-Venom is to Venom. Where Celestials use planets to seed life, Galactus absorbs those planets and uses the Celestial within as a means to eat and survive.
While some outlets believe Galactus is going to be the next major villain, I am of the opinion that he’s going to serve as the first Celestial-like being to given a persona. I know Arishem was in The Eternals, but he developed about as much as Ralph Bohner in WandaVision. What I think is going to happen is that Galactus is going to come for the world of the Fantastic Four because the MCU Earth, which was primed for destruction, was spared when the Eternals turned against their masters.
I think Galactus is there to collect the bill for the cosmic balance that must be kept. Dr. Strange has been adamant that everything has a price to pay, and this is going to include preventing the beings that seeded life from being born into existence. Some price will have to be paid in the multiverse, even if it’s not the Earth we’re thinking that gets destroyed. The only reason he’s not going to do so is because the Fantastic Four stop him. I also think Franklin is going to turn him into the Lifebringer without realizing what he did, if not in a post-credit scene, then definitely in a sequel.
Franklin Richards is one of Reed and Sue’s children. While only Franklin seems destined for this film, Sue does have a daughter named Valeria, but we don’t need to get into that comic business for right now. Franklin is also one of the most powerful characters in all of Marvel Comics. He’s so powerful that he turns Galactus into his herald at one point in the comics when he’s the last one left. He also brought him back from the dead to do so.
Franklin does some really powerful stuff as a child and it’s possible he’s used to solve the problems within the film, but I don’t think they’re going to want to let an unknowing all-powerful child solve the Fantastic Four’s first problem since the Josh Trank film that absolutely tanked. Marvel is counting on the First Family to be the premier heroes for the MCU going forward, so it’s unlikely that they establish that using a child. Fans are going to want to see nods to Franklin’s god-like powers, so expect Marvel to deliver on that front. However it happens, I ultimately expect to see Franklin say “TO ME, MY GALACTUS!!” and turn him into the LIfebringer at some point in the future.
What happens with Galactus, I am just finally happy to see the World Eater get a proper introduction to the world. He has not been represented well in previous iterations, but Matt Shakman clearly understands the assignment with handling era-based Marvel productions featuring characters that haven’t been used well up until that point. He made Jimmy Woo and Darcy fan favorites, as well as establishing Monica Rambeau as a hero. If anyone can take the Fantastic Four, Galactus, and Silver Surfer to new and respected heights, it’s Matt Shakman. I will be there rooting for Galactus opening day, I hope to see you there with me.
