11 Reasons Galactus Is More Terrifying Than Thanos

Fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe know that there aren't many villains scarier than Thanos. He defeated the Avengers, wiped out half of all life in the universe, and then nearly beat Earth's mightiest heroes a second time. No one denies that Thanos is a chilling villain, but avid comic readers know that there's an even greater threat lurking out in the universe: Galactus.

Galactus began in the comics as a "Fantastic Four" villain, which is why his MCU introduction comes in 2025's "The Fantastic Four: First Steps." Presumably it won't take long for Galactus to put Thanos to shame. In 2014's "Thanos Annual" #1, the Mad Titan compares Galactus to gods like Odin and Thor. And, based on everything the comics have told us about Galactus, it's safe to say that Thanos actually underestimates him by a good margin. There's essentially nothing outside the realm of Galactus' power. He can create life, reshape reality, and, of course, consume entire worlds and their sentient populations to feed his insatiable hunger. Galactus is such a formidable foe that Marvel heroes have rarely defeated him and instead usually rely on finding some clever strategy to deflect or repel Galactus for a limited time.

There are few threats in the Marvel universe that can stand up to Galactus. Of course, MCU fans are already sold on how terrifying Thanos can be, but come with us for a frightening journey into everything that makes Galactus so much scarier.

Part of what makes Thanos so scary, especially for Earth-based heroes, is that he's travelled the stars and has a huge amount of experience and knowledge from outer space. There's always a chance that Thanos will be able to pull some new, completely unexpected threat from his back pocket simply because he's seen so much more of the universe than most of Marvel's heroes. Compared to Galactus, though, Thanos seems like a guy who's never left his hometown.

When Galactus was first born, he went by the name Galan and lived on a planet called Taa. Unfortunately for Galactus and his people, the universe that Taa existed in was coming to an end. Galan tried to save his people, but a plague called the Black Winter killed them and the rest of his universe. Before Galan's entire reality ceased to exist, the Sentience of the Sixth Cosmos itself merged with Galan's body and the two united beings became Galactus. He has seen the fall of a universe, and he's been around for the entire Marvel timeline. No matter how well-traveled Thanos is, he'll never be able to catch up to Galactus' level of knowledge.

If Galactus were a regular mortal being, then his prolonged lifespan and millennia of experience wouldn't be quite as threatening. After all, there's only so much a person can remember at any given time. Before he fused with the Sentience of the Sixth Cosmos, Galactus (then Galan) was a scientist, so he started out with an inquisitive mind and the skills to teach himself plenty of new things. After the fusion, Galactus had access to the Power Cosmic, granting him almost total knowledge of the universe and the enhanced intelligence he needed to make use of a lifespan that stretched on for billions of years. 

There are more than a handful of geniuses in the Marvel universe, but Reed Richards is generally the benchmark for human super intelligence. Mr. Fantastic is able to invent machines that can produce nearly infinite power or traverse the deepest layers of the multiverse, but even he has been stumped by Galactus' feats of engineering. While exploring Galactus' spaceship, Reed and the other members of the Fantastic Four see technology that they can't even begin to comprehend. Galactus' machines could probably reshape any society's understanding of science, but he's usually content to hoard his inventions and discoveries on his own personal ship. 

There are some very practical reasons why Galactus is a scarier threat than Thanos. Setting aside all the powers, minions, and special equipment the villains have, Galactus has a definite physical advantage over Thanos. In the comics, Galactus is absolutely giant. Generally, he stands at almost 30 feet and he weighs more than 16 tons, though he actually has the power to change his size at will — he once grew so big that he was able to wrestle with a literal sun. As such, Galactus doesn't need to use any of his powers to defeat most "threats" that cross his path.

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" won't be the first time that Galactus has been shown on the big screen ("Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" gave him his first cinematic appearance, and this movie portrayed his immense size by making him look like a giant cloud of cosmic gas). The first trailer for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" had everyone talking about Galactus' size in the Marvel Cinematic Universe because they noticed that his shadow only stretched across the entirety of Manhattan. He's still a giant in the movie, but he's not quite as inhumanly massive as he's been known to get in the comics.

One of the best examples of Galactus' powerful intellect is the impressive array of starships he's made for himself. It's worth noting that Galactus is perfectly capable of traversing open space on his own, but he prefers to conserve his energy, so he usually gets about in a mile-wide, sphere-shaped starship that's capable of interdimensional travel among other impressive feats. The crown jewel of his fleet is his so-called Worldship, named so because it's the size of a solar system. The official name of this gigantic vessel is Taa II, a tribute to Galactus' lost homeworld.

Galactus' Worldship is so big that it boggles the mind: Taa II has its own gravitational pull. It's just about the most intimidating deep space object you could ever lay your eyes on, though he didn't just build it to be flashy. Taa II actually serves as a base of operations for Galactus, so he can continue his scientific research and missions. To that end, it has all kinds of resources, including an intergalactic zoo where Galactus keeps animals from the various worlds he's devoured on his travels. In short, it's a sick ride that puts Thanos' Sanctuary starships to shame.

Villains, like heroes, are often defined by their motivations. Thanos isn't just scary because he's a powerful fighter with access to the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos' real motivation is terrifying because it drives him to destroy half the universe all while being convinced that what he's doing is a logical course of action. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos thinks he can solve the problems of the universe by cutting its population in half. In the comics, Thanos wants to cause mass death because he's in love with the goddess Death, but he still has a deeper reason for his villainous actions.

Galactus doesn't operate in the same way. He isn't driven by a moral code or an emotional impulse. The real reason that Galactus flies through the universe consuming entire planets and the sentient life they contain is because he needs to. Planets are the only source of fuel for Galactus' massive body and his cosmic powers. The Marvel heroes can't reason with Galactus, and there's nothing they can offer him that will make him stop consuming worlds. In some ways, Galactus is a victim of his own powers because, even if he wanted to stop killing, he couldn't. As far as destructive forces go, Galactus is more like an unavoidable natural disaster than a true supervillain like Thanos.

There are some characters in the Marvel universe who can single-handedly defeat Galactus, but he's usually never killed outright. There are all kinds of practical reasons why Galactus can't be killed, but there may be metaphysical forces at work, too. In "Fantastic Four" #262, Reed Richards is put on trial by the Galactic Tribunal after he spared Galactus' life in a dramatic encounter. Reed admits to the crime, and he confesses that he's filled with guilt knowing that Galactus will inevitably consume another world. However, Reed also explains that he learned Galactus is an important being in the universe who's performing a special function that no mortal being can understand.

A Watcher speaks up to agree with Reed, and then Galactus himself appears and summons a being called Eternity to explain that his role in the universe is larger than anyone can imagine. Reed walks away from the trial, and later Reed's son Franklin develops a unique relationship with Galactus. After becoming immortal himself, in "FF" #16, an adult Franklin Richards and Galactus commiserate over the fact that they'll get to see the end of the universe together. Galactus explains that he always knew he'd outlive the universe, and that he has spent much of his life fearing he would have to go through it alone.

The true source of Galactus' terrifying abilities is the Power Cosmic. This is essentially the essence of the Sixth Cosmos' sentience that melded with the once-mortal being called Galan to form Galactus in the first place. Without the Power Cosmic, Galactus would never have existed. With it, his powers are nearly limitless. Think back to some of the most impressive things Thanos was able to do during his character arc in the Infinity Saga. Thanos used the power of the Infinity Stones to transform reality around the Guardians of the Galaxy and to crash an entire moon onto Iron Man. Those are things Galactus is capable of doing without the help of Infinity Stones or any outside power source.

With the Power Cosmic, Galactus can shape reality to his will, teleport himself (and anything else he wants) across space and time, and even create life itself. The Power Cosmic also grants Galactus almost complete understanding of everything in the universe, so there's virtually nothing outside his realm of knowledge or imagination. On top of that, Galactus can grant his Heralds access to the Power Cosmic, making his henchman stronger than most Marvel heroes. Thanos needed the complete Infinity Gauntlet to get anywhere near Galactus' level of power, and if that doesn't make Galactus more terrifying than Thanos, nothing will.

When Galactus isn't working on a science project on his ship or devouring a planet, he's usually fighting someone. All Marvel villains are fated to spend most of their free time fighting for our entertainment, and with all his power, Galactus has taken on some seriously impressive foes. Of course, ending entire civilizations is basically his day job, so it shouldn't be surprising that Galactus has crushed Kree armies with ease. What's a little more shocking is that Galactus has held his own in a war with the gods of Asgard, and in the pages of "Fantastic Four" #603, he even managed to kill a Celestial.

Because they also have access to the Power Cosmic, Galactus' Heralds can often be just as strong as he is. The Silver Surfer once fought two Proemial Gods at once and managed to kill them both, though he needed serious healing from Galactus after the battle. The only thing that slows Galactus and his Heralds down is energy loss, so when he knows there's a big battle coming, Galactus will consume multiple planets to charge up his resources. At that point, there's basically no force in the universe that can stand up to him, Thanos included.

As terrifying as Galactus is, most beings in the universe will never see him face to face. Galactus spends much of his time living on Taa II, and he has help that travels out into the universe to do his dirty work for him. Galactus' Heralds are his most recognizable foot soldiers, and they're almost as terrifying as Galactus himself. The Heralds can channel the same energy that fuels Galactus' own powers, so any of them can battle Galactus' enemies on their own. The Heralds, whose ranks have included the Silver Surfer and Nova, tend to also have their own set of powers or extraterrestrial abilities that set them apart even before they're chosen by Galactus.

The Heralds tend to get all the glory, but they aren't the only helping hands that Galactus has on board Taa II. The Devourer of Worlds also has a legion of robots called Punishers that are made with alien technology from a world long since destroyed. Galactus uses the Punishers to defend his ship and occasionally to deal with an insubordinate Herald. Thanos has his own team of loyal helpers, a group of formidable aliens that goes by several names, including The Black Order, The Five Dreadlords, and The Midnight Slaughter. As cool as these monikers are, Thanos' generals are no match for the ones that serve Galactus, which is just one more reason why the latter is more scary.

Say you're standing in Times Square looking up at the sky as the giant body of Galactus looms over the Earth from deep space. The planet is about to be eaten, you start to scream, but then the Fantastic Four flies onto the scene, and (thanks to a completely unexpected plot convenience) they manage to kill Galactus once and for all. You think you're safe at last — but just as you and the rest of the planet begin to party, a bigger, scarier being called Abraxas rises up and wipes all of the multiverse from existence. The thing is, as inconvenient as it is for the planet he's about to munch on, Galactus needs to be left alive, or the multiverse will suffer an even worse fate.

Remember how Reed Richards and the rest of the Fantastic Four learned that Galactus has a deeper cosmic meaning than just destroying planets? Well, it turns out that the secret reason for his behavior is actually pretty straightforward: A version of Galactus exists in every universe because his immense power protects the universe from Abraxas, a twisted cosmic entity driven to destroy all of reality. The second Galactus dies, Abraxas is freed and immediately begins to rain down death and destruction on a universal scale. As hard as it is to imagine considering everything we've discussed here, Abraxas is even more powerful than Galactus, so it's best to let the World Devourer keep doing his thing.

The Watchers aren't really known for getting involved in fights, but strange things have happened in the grand cosmic history of the Marvel universe. A long, long time ago, the Watchers decided to give a less-advanced race called the Prosilicans a helping hand by giving them nuclear technology. Unfortunately, instead of using this tech for good, the Prosilicans used it to wage war, first among themselves and then on other planets. This escalated into a cosmos-wide conflict, so the Watcher Emnu created a weapon called the Ultimate Nullifier to bring the war to a sudden stop. With one shot, the Ultimate Nullifier wiped out almost all of the Prosilicans — and destroyed 90% of the known universe, to boot.

The Fantastic Four first learned about the Ultimate Nullifier when Johnny found it on Galactus' ship. They successfully threatened Galactus with the Nullifier to prevent him from consuming the Earth, and since then the weapon has come in and out of play on multiple occasions. The Ultimate Nullifier is even more devastating than the Infinity Gauntlet and is arguably the most dangerous weapon in the entire universe. Galactus keeps it on Taa II partly to protect himself, but also to protect the universe as a whole from another decimation like the one instigated by the Prosilicans.