A new Avengers: Endgame fan theory predicts Thanos created Galactus as an insurance policy in order to ensure his vision of the world be carried out even after he was killed.
The theory comes from reddit UpwardSpiral00 who shared his theory on the Fan Theories subreddit.
Galactus Fan Theory
The quick and dirty of the theory sees Thanos wanting to ensure that his vision of the world through population control would not be undone. After wiping out half of all living life in the universe with the snap of his fingers in Wakanda, Thanos would retreat to The Garden. While in Wakanda, he would peer into the future and see his death at the hands of Thor and the Avengers. In order to ensure that his vision would remain following his death, Thanos uses the Infinity Gauntlet again to not only create Galactus, but to destroy the Infinity Stones as well. Galactus is created as an insurance plan for Thanos because his primary goal would be to keep life in check by consuming “burgeoning populations and biospheres for its own sustenance.” (Related: Rumor: Thanos to Return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Future Annihilation Story – Potential Cameo in Eternals)
Here’s the full theory:
“So I’ve been thinking a lot about Thanos lately, and how he seemed to have such resolute conviction about destroying the Infinity Stones after his snap, to prevent them from being used to undo his culling of the universe. And something didn’t sit right with me.
Thanos is a smart guy. He’s worked hard for decades on his crusade to balance the universe. He may have even used the Time Stone to look ahead and see his death at the hands of the surviving Avengers. But he didn’t seemed concerned about his great work being undone. And yet, it would be, even just with nature running its course.
The world population in 2018 was roughly 7.7 billion. Thanos snaps, we’re down to 3.85 billion, or roughly the global population at the end of 1972. So in 46 years, about half a human lifetime, the population would bounce back. And presumably this would be a similar scenario replayed on other planets in the MCU that survived the snap enough to bounce back. Surely this would have occurred to someone as smart and methodical as Thanos.
And even if he didn’t foresee his own death, he would have understood that without the stones, life would be free to run rampant again. So my theory is, as part of his plan to remove the temptation of the stones but still ensure his great work would not be in vain, he created an insurance policy, at the same time that he was destroying the stones. An agent of destruction that would keep life in check by not only being a cosmically powered force of nature that mere mortal heroes couldn’t surpress, but also by using burgeoning populations and biospheres for its own sustenance. A world devourer.
And I think that’s how they’ll bring Galactus into the MCU.”
Galactus Comic Book Origin
This fan theory is quite a significant change from Galactus’ comic book origin. Galactus is originally a man called Galan who lived on the planet Taa, the home to the most advanced civilization in the universe.
However, the universe Taa was located in was beset by universal decay with radiation poisoning kill off all life. However, Galan and the few survivors of Taa decided to go out in a blaze of glory at the terminal point of the universe. As his comrades were struck by a cosmic-ray burst, the Sentience of the Universe struck a deal with Galan in order for them to have an heir. Both Galan and the Sentience of the Universe merged to form “a living organism who possesses the matchless power and raging appetite of galaxy.” That being’s name was Galactus.
This new being and its space ship would survive the death of their universe and enter into Marvel’s prime universe. From there Galactus would reconfigure his ship into a gestation cube and find a home in the orbit around the planet Archeopia. When an invading armada decided to launch an attack on the planet and more specifically Galactus’ gestation cube, the cosmic being would awake and wipe out the armada and then turn his attention to the planet where he feasted upon it.
However, while Galactus was primarily motivated by his hunger. He also was a builder. After destroying Archeopia Galactus began a project that would last millennia. He would set out to build Taa II. The vastness of the project would engulf “the Archeopian system” In fact, Galactus’ creation was so huge “that planets orbitted it as if it were a sun.”
And in the final page of Galactus’ origin he would detail, “I was present at the birth of the universe, and I shall be there at its end. Though I ravage worlds to live, I bear no malice toward any living thing. I simply do what I must to survive. Any why must Galactus survive? For, no matter how many worlds I devour…How many civilizations I destroy…It is my destiny to one day give back to the universe infinitely more than I have ever taken from it. So speaks Galactus!”
A Second Galactus Fan Theory
While the initial theory would be a change from the original comic origin, a second theory puts a much smaller spin on Thanos’ reasons for wiping out half of all life. Reddit user RetroFrisbee would respond to the initial theory stating, “There’s another theory that says Thanos knew population would bounce back, but he had to keep it low enough to prevent Galactus from awakening.” (Related: Avengers: Endgame Concept Art Depicts Thanos with Eternals)
This theory implies Galactus is already out in the galaxy, but he might still be in his gestation stage. It’s possible his gestation period might be triggered by a certain amount of life force in the universe. Thus Thanos wanted to prevent Galactus from being awakened.
What do you think of these theories? Could either of them work to bring the world eater into the MCU? Or do you have your own idea of how they could bring in Galactus?