1 Marvel Movie Just Made Galactus Into A Joke A Year Before His MCU Debut

4 days ago 3

This framework makes the most recent film depiction of Galactus all the more interesting, as a 2024 Marvel movie release has taken the character in a very different - and almost impossible to predict - direction. As potentially the last film version of Galactus to release before the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps movie, this iteration of the cosmic entity is particularly pertinent, especially since it reduces Galactus' powers and significance quite substantially from their conventional levels in the comics. However, this may well only make the MCU version of Galactus all the more tantalizing.

Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition Makes Galactus Into A High-Tech Hoover

Galactus Gets Some Major Changes In The Lego Marvel Movie

Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition introduces the "Regal Practical Duster" as a device used to clean up on a major scale in the movie, which is held in containment by Damage Control in a seemingly highly secured facility. Quickly after the device is introduced and activated, the lights on the machine change from its full name to instead highlight the letters that spell out Galactus, revealing the true identity of the technology in a plot twist that is both funny and genuinely unexpected.

Galactus is controlled by the movie's actual villain, Terrax (initially known as Terry), who steals it from Damage Control via the unwitting help of protagonist Dennis, and then uses it to hoover up almost all the Marvel heroes in the story, where they remain for the majority of the plot while Dennis tries to work out how to rescue everyone. Though the machine is able to keep these heroes contained - which is no small feat given the roster includes the likes of the Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and Wolverine - this is the extent of Galactus' presence in the story.

Naturally, this is something of a huge change, as while this version of Galactus is described as "so powerful that it could consume anything" - and was discovered by Reed Richards, keeping Galactus' comic ties to the Fantastic Four - it does essentially make one of the most powerful and formidable entities in Marvel into a big hoover controlled by someone else. This alteration also does away with much of the distinctive visual traits of Galactus, as while the main body of the machine has some similarities to Galactus' helmet, the whole thing resembles a street sweeper vehicle substantially more than the iconic Marvel character.

Why Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition's Galactus Change Makes Sense

Galactus' Very Different Form In The Movie Makes Sense On A Few Levels

She-Hulk being hoovered into Galactus in Lego Marvel Avengers Mission Demolition

Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition more or less uses Galactus as a plot device, who can be used to justify the majority of the universe's heroes being unable to help save the day, requiring the movie's unlikely protagonist to step in and give it his all. With this framework in mind, a version of Galactus who seemingly isn't sentient makes sense here, as otherwise the film would also need to justify why Galactus is willing to hijack all these heroes, and how someone has managed to control such a powerful being.

As such, while reducing Galactus to a particularly fancy bit of technology is an unexpected move, it's also one that makes sense in terms of keeping focus on the plot at hand, instead of having to be bogged down by further explanations for the story itself that likely wouldn't have been as straightforward as the actual change made. This is doubly true given Galactus' lore tends to veer a little more complicated largely speaking, due to both his significance in Marvel and his role as a major cosmic entity.

Similarly, as a comedy movie - and a comedy movie with the Lego series' traditionally more playful tone - the film has a bit more room to play around with things than the likes of the MCU, meaning the decision isn't as weighty in terms of what it means for the franchise. Galactus' alteration is in no small part done to justify a joke for the movie via the reveal that the device is the character, with the moment helping showcase what the comedy of the story looks like early on, which also stands to explain why the specific decision was made.

Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition's Galactus Changes Make The MCU Debut More Exciting

The MCU's Galactus Is All The More Promising

Galactus eating worlds in Marvel Comics.

Though Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition features Galactus, it's not Galactus as most viewers would know the character, particularly since the Lego movie iteration isn't sentient. With Galactus having been portrayed in yet another unusual way that is more removed from his traditional comic self - carrying on from the decidedly controversial prior live-action movie depiction of him as a smog cloud of sorts in Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer - audiences are primed more than ever to be excited for the MCU rendition.

While the MCU doesn't necessarily have to adapt a comic-accurate Galactus, this approach seems likely given the reaction to the previous live-action Galactus design and how far it went from the original source material, and since there appears to be no reason to take a big swing like Lego Marvel Avengers: Mission Demolition takes when it comes to Galactus. With other huge Marvel villains like Thanos and Kang getting MCU designs that balance comic accuracy with making the characters feel real, it stands to reason Galactus will follow this path, making his impending arrival in the franchise an exciting one.

Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.