Galactusis one of the most uniquely terrifying Marvel Comics villains in history, ashe’s more of a cosmic force of nature than he is a dastardly bad guy working toward some sinister goal.In fact, Galactus isn’t even really a villain, as he has no choice but to consume worlds to maintain a universal balance. However, the mere fact that he consumes entire planets isn’t what’s so terrifying about him, but that there’s almost nothing anyone can physically do to stop him.
When Galactus made his debut, there was nothing anyone could do to take him down, with the Fantastic Four having to resort to threatening total universal annihilation with the Ultimate Nullifier just to make him leave Earth.Galactus was a beacon of unstoppable cosmic power- at least, until he wasn’t. In the years since his debut, there have been plenty of challengers worthy of taking on Galactus, resulting in some of the coolest battles in Marvel Comics. Here are the10 most epic Galactus fights that rocked Marvel’s entire cosmos!
Galactus' Most Powerful Herald of All Time Makes Silver Surfer Look Weak
Galactus has had many Heralds over the years, and out of them all, only one stands above them as the most powerful - and it’s not the Silver Surfer.
10Galactus Took On Four Celestials at Once (& Even Killed One)
Fantastic Four#603 by Jonathan Hickman and Barry Kitson
When the Fantastic Four get themselves caught up in an interstellar war between the Kree, the Inhumans, and the Annihilation Wave, Reed Richards calls upon Galactus to lend his assistance. Since Galactus vowed to help against any universe-ending threats, he agreed to meddle in the affairs of mortals for the sake of preserving his feeding ground. However,Galactus bit off more than he could chew when he found himself face-to-face with four mad Celestials from another universe.
At first,Galactus puts up a great fight against the Celestials, even managing to kill oneduring the battle. However, after the Celestial was killed, the other three harnessed what was left of their energy before merging into one ultra-powerful Celestial, and used their newfound power to down Galactus with a single shot.
9Not Even DC’s Darkseid is Safe from the Wrath of Galactus
Darkseid vs Galactus: The Hungerby John Byrne
When Galactus' unending hunger leads him to Apokolips, he finds himself face-to-face with Darkseidand his entire army, leading to an absolutely epic DC/Marvel crossover battle. In fact, this is more of an all-out war, as Galactus first sends his own follower, Silver Surfer, to slaughter as many of Darkseid’s parademons as possible before Galactus' coming. Then, when Galactus finally does arrive, it’s a collosal showdown between two cosmic titans.
This is a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object
As the comic itself states, this is a classic case of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, and in the end, their battle comes to a stalemate. Galactus learns that Apokolips has no life energy to drain, and since neither Galactus nor Darkseid can physically defeat the other,Galactus simply leaves having engaged in one of the coolest fights in history.
8Thanos Proves He Doesn’t Need the Infinity Gauntlet to Fight Galactus
Thanos#5 by Jim Starlin
While trying to prevent the arrival of an interdimensional being of darkness in the Marvel Universe, Thanos breaks into Galactus' ship, as that’s the only way to defeat this ‘parasite’.However, Galactus discovers Thanos before the Mad Titan can complete his mission, and immediately goes on the offensive.Rather than being intimidated, however, Thanos doesn’t hesitate to launch an attack of his own - an immensely powerful one, at that.
Thanos hits Galactus with a blast that’s so strong, it sends the Devourer of Worlds flyingand destroys his helmet. Of course, Galactus answers back with a blast of his own, and Thanos is toast. But, at that point, Thanos had already proved that he doesn’t need the Infinity Gauntlet to put up a fight against Galactus, and the fight that proves it is insanely epic.
7Galactus’ Son, Tyrant, Rivals His Father in Immense Cosmic Power
Cosmic Powers#6 by Ron Marz and Scot Eaton
As Thanos is studying Tyrant to gage his power level, he bears witness to one of the most awe-inspiring feats of cosmic power ever exhibited. Tyrant is the ‘son’ of Galactus, in that he’s the first sentient life form Galactus ever created. A living machine imbued with the Power Cosmic,Tyrant proved to not only be Galactus' progeny, but also his rival- and he proves as much in this epic battle.
Energy beams, cosmic explosions, and feats of power so great that even Thanos himself had trouble comprehending them
In the opening pages of this issue, readers are thrust into a cosmic conflict between Galactus and Tyrant. Galaxies crumbled from their battle, andTyrant proved strong enough to legitimately injure Galactus during the fight.Energy beams, cosmic explosions, and feats of power so great that even Thanos himself had trouble comprehending them mark this battle as easily one of the greatest Galactus has ever found himself in.
6Galactus Battles 2 Celestials AND the Annihilation Wave in ANNIHILATION
Annihilationby Keith Giffen and Andrea DiVito
When Annihilus makes a play for the Marvel Universe, with the full-force of his Annihilation Wave, he recruits Thanos to do his bidding (who only agrees to buy himself time to plot against Annihilus). To prove himself to his new ‘master’, Thanos orchestrates the take-down of Galactus by unleashing two Celestials against him: Aegis and Tenebrous.The two Celestials attack Galactus so hard and so fast that the Devourer of Worlds can’t keep up, and he’s eventually defeated - though that’s far from where his story ends.
After he’s beaten,Galactus becomes the power source for Thanos' own ‘Death Star’-like weapon,as his Power Cosmic is siphoned to fuel the massive laser. By the end ofAnnihilation, however, Galactus is set free, and he obliterates Annihilus' Annihilation Wave (which is also an epic battle in this iconic event).
5Galactus Gets One-Shotted by the Beyonder During SECRET WARS
Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars#1 by Jim Shooter and Michael Zeck
Galactus is one of the Marvel characters chosen by the Beyonder to take part in the interdimensional being’s grand experiment of good vs evil. However, Galactus refuses to call the other unwilling participants his equals, and instead chooses to handle this Beyonder himself.Unfortunately, Galactus is not as powerful as he thought, especially compared to the Beyonder.
After the Devourer of Worlds flew through the portal that led to the Beyonder’s home dimension, he’s immediately spit back out - as if theBeyonder swatted Galactus like an annoying fly. Up until this point, Galactus hadn’t really faced anyone who could truly challenge him in a one-on-one fight, which is why he thought that he could handle someone as immensely powerful as the Beyonder. But, as this short battle quickly proved, Galactus was gravely mistaken.
4Galactus Takes On the Entire Ultimate Universe
Cataclysm: The Ultimates' Last Stand#1-5 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley
After a rift is created between Earth-616 and Earth-1610 following the events of Age of Ultron, Galactus finds himself in the Ultimate Universe. When he arrives (in the miniseriesHunger), Galactus merges with his Ultimate Universe counterpart, Gah Lak Tus. However, he’s quickly defeated by Rick Jones aka Captain Marvel, leaving Galactus weakened and in need of sustenance. While his fight against Captain Marvel is epic, it pales in comparison to the one that takes place immediately afterward, asthat battle is against the entire Ultimate Universe.
Galactus descends upon the Earth in this new universe, and it takes the combined might of the Ultimates (including the recently disgraced Reed Richards aka the Maker) to defeat him.Cataclysmis the scariest Galactus has ever been since his debut, and his battle against the Ultimate Universe is nothing short of epic.
3Galactus is Executed by Thor for His Countless Murders Across the Cosmos
Thor#6 by Donny Cates, Nic Klein and Matt Wilson
Galactus' cosmic purpose in the Marvel Universe is to maintain balance by consuming planets, but he’s not the only one of his kind in the Marvel multiverse. An entity called the Black Winter does exactly what Galactus does, but instead of consuming planets, it consumes universes. Galactus tries to fend off this multiversal beast, but little did he know that the Black Winter was the least of his worries, ashe should have been keeping a closer eye on Thor.
During this storyline, Thor is arguably the strongest he’s ever been, and he decides that it’s time that Galactus pays for all the countless murders he’s committed across the cosmos. So,after draining Galactus of his Power Cosmic, Thor hurls Mjolnir into Galactus' chest, killing him instantly. This is more of an execution than a full-on battle, though it’s undeniably epic all the same.
2Galactus Battles Amatsu-Mikaboshi aka King Chaos (Who is Puppeting the Body of Zeus)
Chaos Warby Greg Pak, Fred van Lente, and Khoi Pham
InChaos War,the seemingly mid-tier god Amatsu-Mikaboshi revealed himself to be an entity equal to Eternity in terms of cosmic significance and power: King Chaos. The Chaos King is the living void who once ruled over the entire universe of nothingness before the Big Bang, and he seeks to return his ‘kingdom’ to its former glory.However, there were plenty who rose to the occasion to stop him, including Galactus.
The Chaos King is the living void who once ruled over the entire universe of nothingness before the Big Bang
Before making his presence widely known, King Chaos quietly killed a number of gods and stole their power, which is exactly what he did to Zeus.King Chaos possessed Zeus' corpse, and with his own power combined with that of the King of the Gods, Chaos easily took down Galactus, even with the Devourer of Worlds ready to unleash his full might against this immensely powerful foe.
1Galactus Goes to War Against Odin & All of Asgard Over the Galactus Seed
The Mighty Thor#1-6 by Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel, and Khoi Pham
When Galactus hears word that the Asgardians have found the Galactus Seed, he immediately launches an attack against them in order to claim it for himself.If Galactus were to consume the Seed, then his eternal hunger would finally be satiated,and Odin couldn’t let that happen. So, the King of Asgard sends the strongest warriors he had - Thor included - to meet Galactus on the cosmic battlefield, and the war that ensued was absolutely glorious.
The battle didn’t reach its peak, however, untilOdin joined the fight himself, as he and Galactus fought one-on-one in a true clash of the titans, ending in Odin headbutting Galactus, which sent the two of them crashing into Earth. When it comes to battles, it doesn’t get much more epic than this one, which is why it’s one of the 10 bestGalactusfights in Marvel Comics history.
