The Best Version Of Galactus Won’t Be In The Fantastic Four

Released in 2015 following the events of the Secret War cross-over, Al Ewing’s Ultimates was meant to be the ultimate team to solve the ultimate problems. Comprised of Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Blue Marvel, America Chavez, and Spectrum/Photon/Monica Rambeau, the team lived up to the tagline, “Let’s start with impossible and work up.” The team’s first mission was to fix Galactus and turn the Devorour of Worlds into what he was always meant to be: The Lifebringer.

In order to fully understand what that means, you need to know the backstory of Galactus, and not how he’s the Deverour of Worlds, but how he’s the only survivor of the universe that existed before ours. Once a scientist known as Galan, his universe was destroyed by The Black Winter (a mythical plague), but before the end, he merged with the Sentience of the Sixth Cosmos (just…go with this) and incubated for an untold amount of time, before emerging in our universe, the Seventh Cosmos, as Galactus. Forced to consume entire planets to sustain his massive energy needs, Galactus roams the galaxy as a cosmic force of nature, neither good nor evil, as he consumes only to exist.

Back to the Ultimates, as they had a plan to stop Galactus from consuming any more planets by forcing him back into his incubator and letting the process that birthed him go to completion. Soon, Galactus emerged as The Lifebringer, a cosmic being that restored life to barren worlds, starting with the very first planet he consumed upon waking up. Freed from his hunger, it turns out that Galactus is an interesting character, and this is the most development he has received since his earliest appearance.

As the Lifebringer, Galactus recruited the Ultimates to work for him and help solve a cosmic mystery: Who chained Eternity (the embodiment of our universe)? Galactus giving orders to Black Panther and Captain Marvel, and even admitting he needed to work alongside them, is one of those small moments that carries an immeasurable amount of weight with 60+ years of comics history behind it. The resulting murder mystery story, at the highest levels of existence, brings in Marvel characters like The Living Tribunal and Lord Order/Lord Chaos, which is the type of completely insane storytelling we’ll never get in the MCU.

It’s also the only time Galactus has been able to show much of his real personality, as the Destroyer embraced his role as The Lifebringer to the point where he punched out Order and Chaos. The justified and righteous fury of Galactus was as much a stand-up and cheer moment as the first time that the Flash entered the Speed Force in Justice League. Al Ewing’s Ultimates unfortunately ended soon after, but for a few glorious volumes, comic fans got to enjoy the best version of Galactus we’ve seen in 60 years.

Before enjoying Ralph Ineson’s take on Galactus, do yourself a favor and get Ultimates (2015-2016) from your local library, read it on Marvel Unlimited, or purchase the trades. You’ll get to see a side of the Marvel universe that the MCU has yet to touch, the best version of America Chavez yet, and Black Panther holding his own against cosmic entities. All that, and the greatest Galactus story ever told, that will give you a new appreciation for the iconic character before his big screen debut.