One of the greatest missed opportunities in a superhero movie is not depicting Galactus faithfully in the film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
In the comic, he was depicted as a giant man in purple armor and head-dress on. But in the movie, he was depicted as a giant dark cloud hovering in space. At the time, it seemed like a reasonable compromise as comic book films were still a risky business move for studios, but now with the Marvel cinematic universe in full swing, it’s only a matter of time before Disney gets to show Galactus in all his cosmic glory.
For those of you who don’t know Galactus, he is a powerful demi-God of the Marvel universe who feeds on planets for nourishment. Hell, when Stan Lee created the character he took inspiration from Zeus and the old testament God. A great cosmic being like Galactus, comes with great powers and here are the best 10 of them.
10. Immortality/Cosmic Entity
Galactus amongst the rest of the Marvel cosmic entities.
By the very nature of Galactus being an ancient and cosmic entity, he is an ageless being and possess the power cosmic. As a cosmic entity, he has the same level of power as Zeus or the celestials. Almost a “G” level God practically. So much so, that he basically produces any effect he wants. However, Galactus needs to maintain this level of power by absorbing the energy of planets. But while Galactus is at full power-level, he is capable of destroying reality itself. Now this is the part where I insert that meme from Anchorman in which Will Ferrell says “Well, that escalated quickly”.
9. God-Strength/Stamina
Consumer of worlds and destroyer of planets, Galactus roams the cosmos with one goal in mind.
Galactus has a solar scale of limitless strength and can battle anyone for undefinite amounts of time. In his first appearance, Galactus swatted the Fantastic Four off him like annoying flies; no matter what they hit him with and no matter the amount of times they fought him. However, Galactus’s energy from eating planets can only last for a month. Only eating once a month? Man, I bet that saves on bills.
8. Invulnerability
The unbeatable cosmic entity.
Immune to all diseases and toxins and poisons, Galactus even survived a collide with two planets and a nuclear arsenal and survived an attack from a nega-bomb.
7. Energy Discharges
Galactus destroying two worlds at once.
Galactus can project energies powerful enough to destroy planets (again that meme) and absorb the left-over energy. Galactus’ discharges are even capable of destroying 3 solar systems, and entire galaxies in the marvel universe.
6. Energy Absorption
Galactus sucking the life out of a planet.
Probably his most valuable ability, Galactus can absorb energy…you know, if I didn’t make that clear already. It’s sort of vague as to what exactly Galactus means by energy, but the concept is that Galactus thinks of our planets the same way we would think about eating fish from the sea. I mean, for those of us who aren’t vegetarian that is. Galactus can even absorb an entire domain, as shown in that one time he beat and absorbed the energy of Mephisto; the marvel universe’s version of the Devil.
5. Cosmic Awareness
Welcome to the Galactus edition of MTV's Pimp My Crib!
Being an ancient cosmic being, Galactus has what is one of the marvel universe’s most advanced minds rivaling that of Reed Richards. Hell, even Reed can’t even understand the most mundane forms of advanced technology that is on Galactus’s WorldShip known as “Tara II”. The computers on Galactus’ WorldShip contain knowledge so unfathomable, that it can grant anyone who can understand it unlimited power.
4. Creation
Galactus producing the Silver Surfer from his hand.
If you think Stan Lee was playing around when he said he based Galactus off actual mythological Gods, you’ll be surprised to know that Galactus can create sentient, complex, biological, or bio-technical life forms. Galactus can do this from nothing with control over the molecules around him. This is also how Galactus creates his heralds that travel the cosmos to find planets for Galactus to eat, which nicely leads us to our next power….
3. Power Bestowal
The Children of Galactus.
If Galactus is God, then his heralds are angels that do his bidding. It’s partially why some would consider his former herald the Silver Surfer a “fallen angel.” Galactus endows other alien creatures or creates some of his own with a minuscule fraction of his cosmic powers. In the picture below is a picture of other creatures that have been Galactus’s heralds.
2. Resurrection
Make way for a really large coffin.
As if this a surprise to anyone, Galactus can raise himself from the dead. No big deal considering that Galactus is a literal God, but still a very useful power. In the Infinity Gauntlet storyline, Galactus along with other cosmic beings were turned to stone by Thanos via the infinity gauntlet. Granted, all the celestials came back from that as well, but Galactus could have probably gotten out of that himself given the chance.
1. Life-Bringer
The all new and all different Galactus of today.
This one is a more recent ability that he’s gained in comics. The superhero team that deals with big level cosmic threats known as the Ultimates, drastically changed Galactus’s hunger for cosmic energy. Essentially the Ultimates, consisting of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and others, increased Galactus’ power so much that his hunger ceased. Now Galactus emits life all around, as opposed to consuming it. It’s a nice and ironic twist for a marvel demi-God that I hope will continue to evolve and change.
