Is Galactus a celestial? Cosmic Marvel Character Explained

The character of Galactus first appeared in the pages of Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four #48, in March 1966. Galactus, as any Marvel fan can tell you, is a giant being from outer space – equipped with a cylindrical helmet – who travels the galaxy infected by a bottomless hunger. He sends a herald ahead of him, the Silver Surfer, to announce to the population of a planet that he is coming and that their world will soon end. Galactus then arrives and eats the planet. He has been doing this for millennia.

Visually, Galactus simply looks like a very tall human wearing ridiculous purple armor. In his first appearances, he even sported a giant letter “G” on his stomach. As a concept, however, Galactus is much more terrifying. He is essentially a minor deity whose very existence in the cosmos denotes a structured sense of universal entropy. Galactus apparently cannot die, and he drifts through the heavens casually committing planetary genocide, simply to indifferently soothe his inner physical pain. He is an indifferent God of the Old Testament, casually committing acts of mass destruction and not caring at all about the lives he ends.

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Galactus appeared in Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four: First Steps. played by Ralph Ineson. In that film, he stood against the Celestials, a species of near-immortal living statues that can create entire planets in a complex reproductive cycle, as explained in the film “Eternals.” If the Celestials were distant, indifferent cosmic deities who created worlds, Galactus was a more active deity of destruction.

But then the question arises: Is Galactus also a Celestial? Or is he something else entirely? At the very least, Galactus is somewhat friendly with the various gods – or rather cosmic entities – of the Marvel Universe.

Celestials first appeared in Marvel Comics’ “Eternals” #2, in 1976, and were created by Marvel’s most psychedelic writer/artist, Jack Kirby. The actual origin of the Celestials is intoxicating and vast, as they are countless billions of years old and were present before the creation of the currently known Marvel Universe. The story goes that there once existed a universe that was a life form in itself, that is, a universe-sized consciousness known as the First Firmament. The Firmament then created a species of angels, called Aspirants, to serve as its companions. In turn, these seekers went rogue, frustrated by their inferior position to their creator, and created the Celestials, themselves beings capable of creating entire planets themselves.

The Celestials have their own modus operandi when creating and reproducing worlds. They can summon entire planets and pepper them with DNA, ensuring that advanced life forms will eventually evolve there millions of years from now. They do this because, as shown in the movie “Eternals”Once a home planet’s population reaches a certain density, a celestial zygote at the planet’s core will be activated by all the life energy on the surface. The Celestial will then hatch, destroying the planet. One world will be destroyed, sure, but the new Celestial will spend the next billion years creating countless other worlds. The titular Eternals are necessary because they are long-lived androids who can reside on a planet for millions of years without having to worry about evolution. The Celestials live on such a long timeline.

The Celestials are repeatedly presented throughout Marvel history as distant and ineffable. Their true power and identity cannot be measured or even grasped by the human mind. Is Galactus one of them? It seems that this is not the case, so its origin lies elsewhere.

Galactus has existed in the Marvel Comics universe for almost 50 years, so his history is long and detailed. However, when you look at back issues of Marvel, it’s clear that Galactus is definitely not a Celestial, even though he appears to serve a similar (albeit opposite) divine function in the Marvel Universe. Indeed, in issue 26 of the 1993 “Fantastic Four Annual”, it is theorized that Galactus had a duty to fulfill alongside his habit of devouring the world, and that once this duty was accomplished, he would be rewarded by becoming a Celestial. He’s like a Céleste wannabe or maybe a Céleste assistant principal.

Galactus’ actual origin was first explored in the comic “Super Villain Classics” #1, published in May 1983. This comic explained that Galactus was originally a member of an alien species called Taa-an and his name was formerly Galan. It existed in a universe before ours by several universe generations, making it incredibly ancient. It seems that in his home universe there was a massive cataclysm that destroyed almost all life there. Galan managed to escape the cataclysm in a high-tech ship, but was hung by the shrinking walls of his own universe and crushed by the Big Crunch. Specifically, he was crushed into an egg-like shell and was kept alive by cosmic powers for billions of years, absorbing energy and gestating. When the next Big Bang occurred, billions of years later, Galan became the ever-hungry and immortal Galactus.

Details about Galactus’ history have been further developed and explained throughout Marvel’s comics, usually in cosmic titles like “Silver Surfer” and “Thor”.

Marvel Comics, as you’ve probably already figured out, is replete with its own array of gods and deities, often referred to, neutrally, as cosmic beings. The MCU has already depicted several of these divine beings in its stories. In addition to Galactus and the Celestials, Ego the Living Planet (Kurt Russell) was a central character in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” by James Gunn. Elsewhere, in “Thor: Love and Thunder,” antagonist Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) sought magical aid from Eternity, a being that physically contains the entire universe. “Love and Thunder” also revealed that Thor is not the only mythical God in the MCU. At one point, this film visited Zeus (Russell Crowe) on Mount Olympus and even featured a credits cameo from Hercules (Brett Goldstein). Likewise, the animated series “What If…?” is hosted by the all-seeing Watcher (Jeffrey Wright).

But on the page, there are many others. In the “Infinity Gauntlet” comic series, Thanos spent some time fighting the many gods of the Marvel Universe. It seems that the universe is governed by a series of laws, interpreted by a three-faced golden giant called the Living Tribunal. Eternity, on the other hand, is associated with a being that contains all of time known as the Infinite. There is also another temporal deity known as Kronos, who is the grandfather of Thanos, while the all-powerful Lord of Chaos and Master of Order oversees all chaos and order that exists. Even Love and Hate are physical beings, while other cosmic entities have practical functions that remain a mystery. Who, for example, is the Stranger?

When such Cosmic Beings gather, Galactus is usually present with a few Celestials. He’s not a Celestial, but he’s friends with some of them.