Galactus

As we start discussing the introduction of cosmic heroes, Galactus is one that may or may not appear in the MCU though I can not see how they can do some of the current storylines their planning without him, they may choose to omit his existence for…reasons. That said, you know I like giving non-comic book readers some background into these characters before they appear on the big screen.

In Galactus’ first appearance he was depicted as a godlike creature that could drain the life and energy from planets and had really no moral compass. In his original origin (as we know for all comic book characters origin stories are constantly in flux) Galactus was simply a space explorer called Galan. As his origin was expanded Galan became Galactus by merging with the Sentience of the Universe. His silver age debut has kept him in both supporting and central roles for the last 5 decades of Marvel comics.

Now this cosmic hero/villain was created by the magnificent team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Stan Lee commented on their creation by saying, "Galactus was simply another in a long line of super-villains whom we loved creating. ...[W]e felt the only way to top ourselves was to come up with an evil-doer who had almost godlike powers. Therefore, the natural choice was sort of a demi-god, but now what would we do with him? We didn't want to use the tired old cliche about him wanting to conquer the world. There were enough would-be world conquerors in the Marvel Universe and in all the other comic book galaxies. That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god should be beyond mere good and evil. He'd just be (don't laugh!) hungry. And the nourishment he'd require is the life force and energy from living planets!"

Jack Kirby also wanted to comment on Galactus’ "My inspirations were the fact that I had to make sales and come up with characters that were no longer stereotypes. In other words, I couldn't depend on gangsters. I had to get something new. For some reason, I went to the Bible and I came up with Galactus. And there I was in front of this tremendous figure, who I knew very well because I've always felt him. I certainly couldn't treat him in the same way I could any ordinary mortal. And I remember in my first story, I had to back away from him to resolve that story. The Silver Surfer is, of course, the fallen angel. When Galactus relegated him to Earth, he stayed on Earth, and that was the beginning of his adventures. They were figures that had never been used before in comics. They were above mythic figures. And of course they were the first gods."

He was created to be a god, beyond reproach. Galactus appears in mostly Fantastic Four titles, from the 70s through the 2000s and it wasn’t really until the 2010s that he started to appear in more titles. The more recent storyline that are truly relevant to the foundations of his character are The Ultimates (Vol. 3 #1-6) as it somewhat rewrites his origin, changing the foundation of who he is.

Overall Galactus has the potential to completely change the MCU, the introduction of more cosmic entities in the MCU is either going to enhance or destroy it but either way the future of the MCU hinges upon how these characters are handled. Will the MCU continue to be a force to be reckoned with or will they fade into DC levels of mediocrity?