Marvel's Superman Killed Galactus In One Of Comics' Most Shocking Deaths

While Superman will famously do everything within his power to avoid taking lives, his Marvel Comics counterpart, Hyperion, once proved — in gruesome fashion — that he has no such qualms about killing his enemies under the right circumstances. The 2021 Marvel event "Heroes Reborn" presents a world in which the Avengers never assembled. Instead, the Squadron Supreme, Marvel's answer to the Justice League, has stepped up as the world's leading super-team. Hyperion, Marvel's super-powered refugee sent to Earth from a dying planet, helps lead the team as the universe's equivalent of the Man of Steel.

But in "Heroes Reborn" #2, we see Hyperion do something so gnarly, it's less Superman and more Homelander. In the issue, Hyperion learns that Galactus is responsible for the destruction of his planet and the death of his people. So, as the Devourer of Worlds is settling in to dine on Earth next, Hyperion suddenly bursts onto the scene at an impossible speed and explodes out of the back of Galactus' head like a bullet. He leaves behind a bloody trail of viscera, something it'd be hard to picture Superman doing. 

After losing his homeworld to the cosmic being, Hyperion wasn't taking any chances letting Galactus destroy his adoptive world. For Superman, killing is a last resort. For Hyperion, at least in this instance, he didn't hesitate, offering a shocking contrast to his DC counterpart. 

While he's technically not an alien, Hyperion is his world's last Eternal and was sent to Earth on a ship similar to Kal-El's in the moments before his planet is destroyed. Just like Clark Kent, his human father instilled in him the morals and sense of justice that would lead him to heroism. The two share a similar power set, including flight, super-speed, super-senses, and unfathomable strength. Hyperion even has his own Atomic Vision to match Supes' Heat Vision. The resemblances between the two characters run so deep that they have similarly alliterative names: Clark Kent and Marcus Milton. The panel in which Hyperion annihilates Galactus isn't exactly subtle with the character's inspiration, with him declaring he's a product of the "American way."

Though he was always intended to be a pastiche of Superman, it's hard to imagine the brutality on display coming from DC's golden boy. However, if Kal-El ever learned one singular being was responsible for the destruction of Krypton, and if he saw the opportunity for revenge, who knows what he'd be capable of? With so many similarities between the two characters, something like Hyperion's merciless obliteration of Galactus might not be far off.