Eternals’ Celestials and Fantastic Four’s Galactus: the key cosmic difference

EternalsThe inclusion of the Celestials in the MCU was a welcome development for those who love the cosmic aspect of Marvel Comics. But people who are aware of Marvel Comics but aren’t plugged into the cosmology of its sprawling universe could be left wondering about a possible connection between the Celestials, the giant space gods that threaten to destroy Earth, and Galactus, a giant space god who threatens to destroy Earth who often pops up in Fantastic Four books (and could very well show up in Marvel Studios’ own Fantastic FourThe reboot movie

Galactus is a Celestial, like Arishem or Tiamut? EternalsWhat is the answer? No. But he’s not far off from those larger-than-life characters.

Here’s how to tell them apart.

An overview of the Celestials

There are so many to choose from Eternals focuses on the birth of Tiamut the Celestial, let’s start with those big guys. Jack Kirby, within the pages The EternalsIn 1976, the Celestials, a race made up of giant, super-powerful cosmic beings, were established by the First Firmament. This was the embodiment of the First Cosmos. The First Firmament created life, resulting in two races — the Aspirants, who wanted the approval of the First Firmament and to follow its wishes, and the Celestials, who wanted to take charge of their existence, to shape the universe around them. After rebelling against their Creator, the First Firmament was shattered into the First Multiverse. This became known as The Second Cosmos. Celestials survived the cycle of destruction, rebirth, and more. For example, Marvel’s comic book timeline began in the Seventh Cosmos, and is currently the Eighth Cosmos.

Jack Kirby/Marvel Comics

Celestials visit inhabited planets to experiment on what they deem to be “lower” life-forms in groups called “Celestial Hosts” to create Eternals and Deviants of every species. On Earth, this obviously led to the Eternals and Deviants we’ve come to know (or the species of Homo immortalis and Homo descendus, respectively, created from Homo sapiens). More interestingly in its implications for the MCU, they also introduced a gene that caused Homo superior — that is, Mutants — to eventually exist. The Celestials then leave the planet for a time to conduct their experiments before they return to the surface of the earth. If they discover the planet is not suitable, they will demolish it.

What makes Galactus so different from the Celestial?

Galactus wasn’t created by the First Firmament. However, he IsFrom the previous Cosmos.

Galactus first appeared in the pages and magazines of as a threat to end all worlds. Fantastic FourStan Lee, Jack Kirby and others created the comic. They would then go on to write about his roots in The Pages. ThorGalactus, originally a Galan was born on a planet called Taa. This happened at a very critical time in the history of the Sixth Cosmos. The Taaians discovered that just as the universe began with a Big Bang, it would end with a Big Crunch — the entire universe would collapse together, destroying everything and starting the cycle over again for the next Cosmos. Galan was dispatched to space in search of a solution to the Big Crunch. He was unsuccessful. Galan, however, survived this crash and became the Seventh Cosmos’ Devourer/Worlds. He is an agent of universal resurrection.

Image by Stan Lee/Jack Kirby/Marvel Comics

Exactly how this happened is under some contention, as comics sometimes conflict with each other, and Galactus’ own story differs from that of a different entity from the Sixth Cosmos. However, the main thread is Galanof Taa survived and became Galactus in Seventh Cosmos.

Galactus’ FunctionGalactus is the Celestials’ most distinct member. Galactus is known as the Devourer to Worlds. BeatitudesIt is necessary to live on planets. He doesn’t experiment on his food, he’s not here to judge anything. His giant spaceship converts a planet to pure cosmic energy and then he eats. Galactus DoesSometimes, the Power Cosmic can be used to imbue mortals. This allows them to become his heralds and to seek out new planets. But he shares none of the same intentions as the Celestials, and doesn’t work at all on the same scale.

But just because he’s gigantic, from an earlier universe, and has a silly hat, doesn’t mean Galactus is one of the Celestials. And he could still have his own role to play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — whenever that Fantastic Four movie finally gets off the ground. Marvel’s movie universe is filled with gigantic cosmic entities. Anything seems possible.