Since Fantastic Four #48, Galactus has been one of the most imposing villains in all of comics. A being of gargantuan size, Galactus travels from world to world and devours planets. He’s a nigh omnipotent being, and whenever Galactus approaches Earth, it’s such a large crisis that multiple groups of heroes usually need to band together to stop him.
While his live-action appearances have been sparse, really only featuring prominently in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, it seems like he’s finally getting his due in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The trailers have presented him as this monumental threat, constantly looming over Marvel’s First Family, and the sheer destruction he’s capable of will most likely reinvigorate the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the same way that Thanos did in Avengers: Infinity War. In fact, it may very well be the case that Galactus wins and The Fantastic Four are defeated. It certainly wouldn’t be out of the question.
There is also the chance that The Fantastic Four can win. The odds are slim, but not impossible, since Galactus is actually a being that can be defeated in multiple ways. He’s powerful, but not quite as omnipotent as he seems to be, which begs the question… is there a god more powerful than Galactus?
How Powerful Is Galactus Really?
To figure out how powerful Galactus really is, you first need to answer a strange, but relevant question: Has Galactus eaten recently?
Galactus is a being who hails from an earlier incarnation of the universe. He was gifted omnipotence before the collapse of his old universe, but back then, he was a mortal being with fairly standard abilities. After surviving the death of the old universe, he was imbued with the Power Cosmic, which gives him the ability to do virtually anything. He can absorb energy, change his size, power-up other beings, and even bring back the dead. You name it, the Power Cosmic can do it.
Because of this, when Galactus is at full power, very few things can defeat him. He’s defeated numerous Celestials, with each Celestial having strength equivalent to the Big Bang. And Galactus once defeated four of them at once. However, Galactus’ strength is tied to how much energy he consumes, since maintaining the Power Cosmic and his extraordinary size requires a sizeable amount of energy.
Galactus needs to constantly consume planets to keep his strength up, though he doesn’t need to eat daily. He can survive off the energy of one planet for weeks and feel satiated. It’s important to note that Galactus doesn’t see what he’s doing as evil, since it’s a necessary biological function for him. He needs to eat to stay alive, and planets are the only thing that can satisfy his hunger. He’s indifferent to the life that he snuffs out on each world, so he’s callous about his actions. After he consumes a planet, that’s when he’s at his strongest, but when Galactus hungers, that’s when he’s at his most vulnerable.
Has Galactus Been Defeated Before?
So, if a person were going to attempt to fight Galactus, fighting him when he’s hungry would be the most optimal time. He has died of hunger before, showing that despite his claims of invincibility, he can be weakened. Granted, because he still wields the Power Cosmic, it would still be an immensely difficult fight for anyone, unless they had some outside assistance.
Fortunately, there are a few weapons in the universe that are capable of harming Galactus, with the most notable one being a device called the Ultimate Nullifier. While it may seem like a weird little gadget, the device actually has the power to completely eradicate its target, eliminating all of their mass, energy, and physical being from existence. There is a great risk in using the Ultimate Nullifier, like the strong possibility it destroys the wielder as well, and the chance that if used by a person of notable power, it could potentially annihilate a large percentage of the known universe.
The Infinity Gauntlet is also a viable weapon against Galactus, since its properties allow the user to reshape all of reality. In the comics, Thanos famously wielded the Infinity Gauntlet in the event comic of the same name and was able to defeat not only Galactus, but several other major cosmic entities in the Marvel universe. While the Infinity Gauntlet is no more in the MCU (Earth-199999), there technically would be an Infinity Gauntlet in the universe that The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes place in (Earth-828), since each universe in the Marvel multiverse tends to have their own version of the infamous gauntlet.
But realistically, defeating Galactus is very hard, if not impossible, unless you have those items. In truth, the best way to defeat Galactus is to either delay him or redirect him. In Fantastic Four #48, despite possessing the Ultimate Nullifier, The Fantastic Four were able to repel Galactus without firing it by simply threatening him with it. Other heroes and villains have also simply redirected Galactus’ focus to other planets, like how Squirrel Girl, who has the power to control squirrels, simply convinced Galactus to devour another planet instead of Earth after befriending him in her miniseries, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl.
Is There Anyone Stronger Than Galactus In Marvel Comics?
So Galactus is capable of losing, provided his foe has some frankly overpowered weapons on their side. But are there beings that are simply more powerful than him? Yes. Several.
While Galactus is considered to be a cosmic being, several other entities are far stronger than him in terms of capabilities and abilities. Take, for example, the Phoenix Force, a cosmic energy being that can drain energy from the universe itself. Given that Galactus is fueled by the Power Cosmic and gains his strength from consuming the energy of other planets, the Destroyer of Worlds and the Phoenix Force have come into conflict several times, with both beings have won and lost against each other previously.
Then you have beings like Order, Chaos, Love, and Hate, who embody metaphysical concepts that can easily circumvent Galactus’ powers. While these beings have never come into direct conflict with Galactus, they are significantly more powerful than him. Then there’s Eternity, who fans of the MCU may remember from Thor: Love and Thunder. While he was presented as this enigmatic, wish-granting being, in the comics, Eternity is the living embodiment of not only the universe, but of time itself, making it a being that even Thanos, powered by the Infinity Gauntlet, balks at fighting.
And yet, there are still beings far beyond Eternity! One of the most powerful beings in all of the Marvel multiverse is The Living Tribunal, a being that interprets and reshapes the laws of the universe. While that may sound unconventional, its powers, when utilized, are broken. With a simple snap of its fingers, it can render the Infinity Gems worthless, meaning it could potentially rewrite reality wherein Galactus has no powers and is a mortal once more. Plus, The Living Tribunal is a servant to One-Above-All, the God of the Marvel Multiverse, who can do whatever it wants. It usually presents itself as notable writers within Marvel like Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, making it a metaphysical being that represents the nature of fiction itself, therefore overcoming Celestials like Galactus without any difficulty.
So yes, Galactus is powerful. Unbelievably powerful to the point where very few beings could hope to stand a chance when his hunger gets the better of him. But there are ways to counter him, whether it’s through acquiring weapons, redirecting his efforts, or simply allying oneself with a nigh omnipotent god. It’s not likely any of those things could happen, but it goes to show that while Galactus is strong, he’s not Marvel’s most powerful god.
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