Disney-Fox Merger: What about the MCU’s next big villain?

Credit: Mitch Breitweiser (Marvel); Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Variant cover for Son of Hulk #14

1. Galactus

Why Galactus works as the next major MCU villain: Let’s see…a giant cosmic humanoid as old as the known universe who eats entire planets? That’s not a threat the Fantastic Four could handle alone. That’s a threat in which you call the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men…everybody! Galactus’ arrival on Earth would literally mean the end of the world, and you don’t get any higher, personal stakes than that.

Like Thanos, Galactus is a character who can also be built up over the course of several movies. Remember, Thanos first appeared in an end credits sequence for Avengers. There’s no reason one couldn’t have the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie end with an end credits stinger showing a planet on the edge of the Milky Way about to be devoured as we see the shadow of Galactus’ head move across it. Or have Dr. Strange experience a dream or vision of Galactus unrelated to the main plot. In other words, Marvel would tease Galactus over time, and when we finally see him, he isn’t some boring, giant space cloud.

There’s also Galactus’ Heralds to contend with, each one potentially as strong and powerful as Thanos himself (though not as powerful as the Infinity Gauntlet, of course). One of these heralds would be the Silver Surfer, meaning we’d have another potential hero in the mix, as well. For any comic book fan who wanted to see Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “Galactus Trilogy” and felt disappointed with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, there’s now a perfect opportunity for Marvel Studios to show us how it’s done.

Why Galactus doesn’t work as the next major MCU villain: To say that Galactus would is potentially the next Thanos is also Galactus’ biggest drawback. Not that Thanos and Galactus are alike, but in terms of a possible over-arching, multi-film narrative, one can’t help but draw comparisons. After all, it’d be another giant purple guy from space with fiercely devoted minions. Okay, that’s a bit of a simplification, but to have next major villain be another extraterrestrial menace may seem like Marvel Studios is repeating themselves.

There’s also the matter of Galactus’ design. Although Jack Kirby’s look for the world-eater is iconic, translating his iconic appearance from the comic book page to the silver screen might pose a challenge. Would audiences take the image of Galactus seriously? Well, if they can embrace a talking raccoon and walking talking tree, they probably can. Certainly anything would be better than a giant funnel cloud.

There are other villains brought over from Disney-Fox deal, such as Mr. Sinister, Annihilus, Stryfe, the Hellfire Club, Onslaught, and Super-Skull to name a few. But I think you may agree that the four villains I mentioned would prove the top contenders to take Thanos’ place as the next major MCU villain. If you have another candidate, please don’t forget to mention them and why you think they’d make a great, MCU adversary in the comments below.