Marvel’s Tallest Super-Villain: Galactus the World Devourer

We hear it all the time — “larger than life.” Personality, power, personal vendettas, they can all forge a character into someone instantly recognizable on the page or the screen. But for a certain Marvel character, that larger than life description is literal. He devours worlds, he’s a menace to intergalactic society, and he’s got some Fantastic enemies. We’re talking about Galactus.

Everything is bigger in outer space, and that counts double for Galactus the World Devourer. He will appear in the highly anticipated MCU film The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but he’s been around in the comics since the Fantastic Four’s debut decade. Fantastic Four #48, to be specific! So when we say large, how tall are we dealing with? The answer is a little complicated.

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Galactus Is Marvel’s Tallest Villain

As far as villains go, Galactus is easily among Marvel’s biggest. He’s most often seen towering above a doomed planet, only his head visible in the panel or screen since he’s so big. Officially, Galactus is 28’9″, nearly 30 feet tall. However, due to this cosmic being’s near omnipotence, that height can change if Galactus manipulates his own size.

In the past, he’s even squared up against a Celestial, which would mean he can alter his mass into a stature that fills up whole sections of the cosmos. This overwhelming super-villain is instantly recognizable with his purple head crest and armor. Two magnificent horns protrude from his helmet. When these appear in the sky, any planet should fear for its safety. It’s interesting to note that Galactus appears differently depending on whom he visits. In other words, humans see him in a humanoid form. Yet any other species would perceive Galactus as a large, terrifying version of their own species.

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Galactus Is Bigger than a Planet

Since he is a Jack Kirby/Stan Lee creation, Galactus has a very distinct look. Actually, Galactus’ design is very similar to Kirby’s New Genesis aesthetic for DC. But he didn’t always look that way. In fact, Galactus was once Galan, a regular being from the planet Taa. Galan existed in the previous version of the universe, just before the Big Bang. Galan’s universe was consumed by the Big Crunch. Though Galan tried to warn his people, there was little anyone could do.

Still, like any brave scientist, Galan attempted to understand until the very end. He flew a starship into the central point of his universe’s destruction. Instead of meeting a devastating end, the Phoenix Force saved him. It placed him within a Cosmic Egg. Then the egg incubated for millennia, until multiple misguided attacks awoke the newly formed Galactus. Alongside Eternity and Death, Galactus emerged as a primordial force of the new universe. He was a messy balancing act between annihilation and creation. And the messiest bit was his growing hunger.

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Who Is Stronger than Galactus?

Over time, Galactus learned he needed to consume vast amounts of energy to survive. He tried to focus his efforts on uninhabited planets but his hunger eventually grew into a bottomless pit, demanding more and more. Only inhabited planets truly quench his needs. With the Power Cosmic, Galactus is nearly unstoppable.

Still, Galactus is capable of defeat. Though his most famous Herald is Norrin Radd, the Silver Surfer, there have been other Heralds. And more often than not Galactus’ Heralds betray him for a taste of true power. Even the Silver Surfer helped the Fantastic Four to use a weapon from Galactus’ ship, the Ultimate Nullifier, to subdue the World-Eater. On various occasions, Doctor Doom also attempted to take Galactus’ power, notably with success on Battleworld during the Secret Wars. Galactus is not immune to the powers of Death if his energy falls low enough and Thanos, with the full power of the Infinity Gauntlet, took Galactus down with ease. Once Galactus even disappeared during a bout of indigestion. Turns out eating a planet of “terminally bored” beings is bad for the ol’ intergalactic intestines.

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Do you have any Galactus-related theories or predictions for The Fantastic Four: First Steps?

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