How could Galactus work?

[Dark Raven]

They need the iconic Galactus helmet with the tuning forks. Giving him a different appearance is like changing the shape of the USS Enterprise just because someone thinks that they would prefer a different look.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Hollywood is afraid of putting comic book characters on the screen that actually look like comic book characters. And their fear has over the years become our fear. They have convinced us that it won't work because they think it won't work.

 

[hippie_hunter]

They should do this:

 

[psylockolussus]

Hollywood is afraid of putting comic book characters on the screen that actually look like comic book characters. And their fear has over the years become our fear. They have convinced us that it won't work because they think it won't work.

Because they want to make the characters realistic and not goofy. But it doesn't really matter if it looks goofy or too costumey because people will get use to it eventually.

 

[Chris Wallace]

There are many levels between goofy and looking nothing like the character's supposed to look.

 

[Godzilla2014]

He looks human to other humans. He looks like a Skrull to other Skrulls. et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

The ability to morph into a form that mimics a species gestalt is about as alien as you can get.

Ok.

Oy vey. Commenting on yet another character you don't know anything about.

Galactus doesn't actually look human. No normal race can comprehend his true appearance, and as such, they perceive him as looking like a member of their own race. For an example of what I mean check out this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXChBYE9Xig

The alien in that video is called a Vorlon, but to the other aliens he looks like a angelic member of their own race. To a Minbari he looks like a Minbari. To a Narn he looks like a Narn. To a Drazi he looks like a Drazi. And to a human he looks like an angel, with all the usual assorted human features.

The same is true for Galactus. Every single race in the universe sees something different when they see Galactus. The Galactus which we're familiar with is just what he looks like to Humans and Zenn-Lavians.

I don't claim to know anything about Galactus. I personally just think that his appearance doesn't reflect his cosmic nature very well.

Well, it's not that he morphs. It's just that his true form is completely incomprehensible to the minds of most sentient species, so they see him as something which their minds can understand. As a result, when they look at him, they see a being which resembles themselves. Galactus himself, however, doesn't change.

Here's another example of how aliens view Galactus. Here the Korbinites see him NOT as a member of their own species, but as a squidlike creature, which is how one of their gods, "Ashta", looks (Ashta is apparently the closest analog they have to a god who devours worlds). If you notice, you can get a full view of how Galactus looks to them. You can see a bit of the familiar silhouette of his helmet, but the rest of him is squid.

I don't really buy this justification. It implies that we (humans) can't comprehend anything other than a human form, which is just insulting to my intelligence. Going by that logic, how is it that Silver Surfer can look like an alien, yet Galactus looks like a dude in a costume?

 

[DarthDaveBanner]

With the Transformers movies raking in billions at the box office, its pretty obvious the GA will respond well to the classic Galactus.

 

[Lord]

No they won't.
Really, i could picture giant transforming robots, but not a purple suited man with a hawaiian god's head.

 

[Iron_Stark]

Ok.
I don't claim to know anything about Galactus. I personally just think that his appearance doesn't reflect his cosmic nature very well.

I don't really buy this justification. It implies that we (humans) can't comprehend anything other than a human form, which is just insulting to my intelligence. Going by that logic, how is it that Silver Surfer can look like an alien, yet Galactus looks like a dude in a costume?

You really are grasping at straws trying to find something to complain about aren't you.

About Silver Surfer, he's from another planet, he's not from the same "world" Galactus is from. Before Galactus gave him a tiny portion of the Power Cosmic, he looked human. That silver material that covers his body is there to keep him protected in space, and grants his his super powers.

 

[Godzilla2014]

You really are grasping at straws trying to find something to complain about aren't you.

About Silver Surfer, he's from another planet, he's not from the same "world" Galactus is from. Before Galactus gave him a tiny portion of the Power Cosmic, he looked human. That silver material that covers his body is there to keep him protected in space, and grants his his super powers.

Hey, I am not a fan of the character. I'm just stating my opinions. Why does the incomprehensible being look more like a human than his herald (to the same humans)?

 

[Iron_Stark]

Hey, I am not a fan of the character. I'm just stating my opinions. Why does the incomprehensible being look more like a human than his herald (to the same humans)?

What? Didn't I already answer that?

SS isn't the same species as Galactus, he looks the way he looks. If Galactus happened to have gotten a Skrull, then it would've been a silver looking Skrull going through space, as it happened, it was a guy from the planet Zen-La, who happen to look like humans.

 

[Captain Marvel]

I don't claim to know anything about Galactus. I personally just think that his appearance doesn't reflect his cosmic nature very well.

And you substituted one humanoid for another? Cause apparently, being humanoid in all ways except for a mouth and a nose makes you more cosmic.

I don't really buy this justification. It implies that we (humans) can't comprehend anything other than a human form, which is just insulting to my intelligence.

What's insulting about that? Galactus isn't just some random alien. He's a force of nature unlike anything any human (or any alien) has laid eyes on. As you can see from the scans you quoted, every alien race sees something different when they look at Galactus. It's not as if it's a failing unique to humans. That's because Galactus isn't a flesh and blood being, but something else. Something which normal mortal minds can't process, and so each mind perceives that being as something they can understand. Didn't you want something alien? How much more alien can you get than that?

Going by that logic, how is it that Silver Surfer can look like an alien, yet Galactus looks like a dude in a costume?

"I don't claim to know anything about Galactus."

That's pretty clear, otherwise you wouldn't have made a statement like that.

1) Silver Surfer is a member of a race called Zenn-Lavians, and as it so happens, they're identical to humans.

2) That silver skin he's covered with isn't a natural trait of their species. It's part of the powers that Galactus gave him, just like how Colossus' organic steel skin isn't a normal human trait, but rather a power particular to him.

3) The Silver Surfer is just a regular guy with superpowers. Galactus, on the other hand, is an incomprehensible force of nature. That's why the Surfer always looks the same while Galactus looks different to people. They're certainly not anywhere near being the same sort of creature. The fact that Galactus is at least 20 times the Silver Surfer's size should've been your first hint.

 

[Godzilla2014]

And you substituted one humanoid for another? Cause apparently, being humanoid in all ways except for a mouth and a nose makes you more cosmic.



What's insulting about that? Galactus isn't just some random alien. He's a force of nature unlike anything any human (or any alien) has laid eyes on. As you can see from the scans you quoted, every alien race sees something different when they look at Galactus. It's not as if it's a failing unique to humans. That's because Galactus isn't a flesh and blood being, but something else. Something which normal mortal minds can't process, and so each mind perceives that being as something they can understand. Didn't you want something alien? How much more alien can you get than that?



"I don't claim to know anything about Galactus."

That's pretty clear, otherwise you wouldn't have made a statement like that.

1) Silver Surfer is a member of a race called Zenn-Lavians, and as it so happens, they're identical to humans.

2) That silver skin he's covered with isn't a natural trait of their species. It's part of the powers that Galactus gave him, just like how Colossus' organic steel skin isn't a normal human trait, but rather a power particular to him.

3) The Silver Surfer is just a regular guy with superpowers. Galactus, on the other hand, is an incomprehensible force of nature. That's why the Surfer always looks the same while Galactus looks different to people. They're certainly not anywhere near being the same sort of creature. The fact that Galactus is at least 20 times the Silver Surfer's size should've been your first hint.

I understand, but I still find the classic Galactus design underwhelming. An eater of worlds should look like this:

Not this:

Cthulhu is terrifying, classic Galactus is...not. If he's an Eldritch Abomination, let look like one.

 

[Dark Raven]

That looks worse than cloud Galactus, and that not only looks underwhelming itself but like a bad B-movie alien.

 

[Captain Marvel]

Yeah, Classic Galactus is perfectly fine. It's certainly far better than having a Cthulhu ripoff. Galactus needs to have character, personality, and pathos. That's something you wouldn't get from making him some bizarre tentacled creature. If that's the case, then he may as well be a cloud, because he's going to have about as much personality. Besides, tentacled fiends have been done to death. There was one at the end of Hellboy and it dragged down an otherwise good movie.

 

[bubbadoom]

WOW, I keep forgetting how amazing the Kirby Galactus would look on screen - the above image proves it!

 

[bubbadoom]

By the way, I had no problem with the Lovecraft creature at the end of HELLBOY, because that is what HB is, that's the world he lives in - it is not the world the FF live in, Dr. Strange - sure, but not the FF.

 

[Dark Raven]

Yeah, Classic Galactus is perfectly fine. It's certainly far better than having a Cthulhu ripoff. Galactus needs to have character, personality, and pathos. That's something you wouldn't get from making him some bizarre tentacled creature. If that's the case, then he may as well be a cloud, because he's going to have about as much personality. Besides, tentacled fiends have been done to death. There was one at the end of Hellboy and it dragged down an otherwise good movie.

Exactly. That thing is more likely to be Galactus's pet than Galactus himself. What a ridiculous notion.

 

[Godzilla2014]

That looks worse than cloud Galactus, and that not only looks underwhelming itself but like a bad B-movie alien.

Yeah, Classic Galactus is perfectly fine. It's certainly far better than having a Cthulhu ripoff. Galactus needs to have character, personality, and pathos. That's something you wouldn't get from making him some bizarre tentacled creature. If that's the case, then he may as well be a cloud, because he's going to have about as much personality. Besides, tentacled fiends have been done to death. There was one at the end of Hellboy and it dragged down an otherwise good movie.

I was, in no way, intending to say that Galactus should look like Cthulhu, I was using Cthulhu to make a point. Classic Galactus just isn't scary to me. I personally like this version of Galactus.

If you don't want to redesign him from the ground up, then cover up his face so there's an air of mystery to him. I'm just not a fan of the idea that Galactus the eater of worlds looks like a giant white dude in a costume. I'd think such a creature should look very strange. Having a human face is so underwhelming to me.

 

[Dark Raven]

I was, in no way, intending to say that Galactus should look like Cthulhu, I was using Cthulhu to make a point. Classic Galactus just isn't scary to me. I personally like this version of Galactus.

If you don't want to redesign him from the ground up, then cover up his face so there's an air of mystery to him. I'm just not a fan of the idea that Galactus the eater of worlds looks like a giant white dude in a costume. I'd think such a creature should look very strange. Having a human face is so underwhelming to me.

And I'm just not a fan of the idea that Galactus the eater of worlds should look like Tron with purple accents, black ballet tights and a tribal rooster mask as in the picture above.

If you didn't know who Spider-Man was, you could easily reason that a man with spider powers shouldn't be dressed in red and blue. The same goes for many other characters.

 

[DrCosmic]

Be respectful to what Kirby intended with him. Here's Odin in the comics:

And here's the film version.

Different, but they work under a certain logic. If I may, I'd prefer they drop the whole notion of Galactus's appearance depending on who is perceiving him and emphasise armour containing an energy being.

This makes by far the most sense to me. I think the idea of Galactus appearing as he wishes, the whole faceplate being full of energy that 'he' chooses to make look like a human to either mock or intimidate his victims is interesting. There's a story there, rather than just a high concept.

Well, it's not that he morphs. It's just that his true form is completely incomprehensible to the minds of most sentient species, so they see him as something which their minds can understand. As a result, when they look at him, they see a being which resembles themselves. Galactus himself, however, doesn't change.

Honestly, that seems like a very good example of something that doesn't transfer very well from literature to film. "Beyond Comprehension" is hard sell, it's a very intellectual idea, and thus, even harder to turn into pathos, unless you want to build part of the story around that concept of him being beyond comprehension. And if so, you need to commit to it fully, and not just use it as a fanwriter explanation to explain human-looking aliens. Why is his suit comprehensible, but not his face? There's no caption bubbles here. No Thor Corps members to send into space as an example, and thank goodness, because then everyone wants to know why BRB didn't see him as a horse.

Why can't this work on film? Is it any "goofier" than a man dressed in an American flag throwing a metal frisbee? Any more bizarre than an angry green giant? Does it require any more suspension of disbelief than an alternate dimension populated by Norse gods?

Galactus works. Fox was scared.

The reason these won't work on film is because when we are told to see him as an alien, our mind goes to the 'Star Trek' alien place, where we suspend our disbelief and pretend that all evolution points directly to us or something. For people who aren't into that kind of suspension, they are turned off. It's different that an odd costume choice or a bizzare mutation, it's something that supposed to be this big concept, but really it's just Ralph Fiennes with some CGI contacts. Anyone not impressed with the cosutme, which is really easy for something so busy, is going to draw comparisons to Power Rangers.

I think he should be bipedal... why not? But because the human mouth is such a small, and even in the comics, mutable part of his design, and because it would allow the film to be better without that particular feature, I think he should go without, and manifest it through the storyline towards the end.

That's part of the problem with fanservice in comic book movies, and why Batman Begins did so well, it didn't, and still does not, have a need to establish the comic book status quo by act 2. Perhaps Bruce Wayne will never have a Batcave, y'know? Comic book movies need that freedom, even when developing high concept characters like Galactus.

 

[cherokeesam]

The reason these won't work on film is because when we are told to see him as an alien, our mind goes to the 'Star Trek' alien place, where we suspend our disbelief and pretend that all evolution points directly to us or something. For people who aren't into that kind of suspension, they are turned off. It's different that an odd costume choice or a bizzare mutation, it's something that supposed to be this big concept, but really it's just Ralph Fiennes with some CGI contacts. Anyone not impressed with the cosutme, which is really easy for something so busy, is going to draw comparisons to Power Rangers.

The character was established 50-odd years ago as a giant human. Kids in those days were asked to willingly suspend disbelief to accept a giant dude in purple armor as a world-eater. No problem. 50 some-odd years later, and several generations in the can, Marvel readers are *still* being asked to do the same. And you know what? No problem.

The character is who he is. He's got 50+ years of iconic imagery and history behind him. Nobody's had a problem with his image since 1962, and he *still* looks exactly the same in the Marvel Universe these days.

And if the GA thinks he's cheesy, then so effin' what? It's Fantastic Four, for crying out loud, not Batman or Punisher. Realism is SUPPOSED to take a back seat to unabashed kid-stuff space opera. Which is exactly what FF is, was, always has been and always will be.

 

[DrCosmic]

The character was established 50-odd years ago as a giant human. Kids in those days were asked to willingly suspend disbelief to accept a giant dude in purple armor as a world-eater. No problem. 50 some-odd years later, and several generations in the can, Marvel readers are *still* being asked to do the same. And you know what? No problem.

The character is who he is. He's got 50+ years of iconic imagery and history behind him. Nobody's had a problem with his image since 1962, and he *still* looks exactly the same in the Marvel Universe these days.

We all know that comics fans don't have a problem with comics characters. This sort of 'this is how it is, the GA can take it or leave it' is nice on a comics board, but it simply doesn't exist among people who are positioned to bring Galactus to life.

And if the GA thinks he's cheesy, then so effin' what? It's Fantastic Four, for crying out loud, not Batman or Punisher. Realism is SUPPOSED to take a back seat to unabashed kid-stuff space opera. Which is exactly what FF is, was, always has been and always will be.

But in successful space operas, say, Star Wars, they make sure that aliens look alien. I'm not saying that you have to change Galactus' silhouette, but even the comics know you need to make sure it gets across to the audience that he doesn't naturally look human, and you can't do that with a caption box in a film.

I don't think you have to ignore realism for it to take a back seat.

 

[Dark Raven]

Well the Borg in Star Trek were humanoid but had alien-looking skin (it was white and dead looking (or in First Contact was even more mottled). However they wore armor not that different from Galactus (apart from his head piece of course). No-one thought that they didn't look alien enough.

Galactus's skin could be rendered like that. The Borg were more or less devourer of worlds too, destroying everything in their path. The Borg worked perfectly in the series and for the big screen. I don't see why Galactus couldn't either, especially if he is like that. He doesn't need to look like a cloud, a Cthulhu ripoff or that other tribal rooster looking thing in black ballet tights that people keep posting.

 

[bunk]

I would be fine with regular comic book version only with a full helmet.