Galactus in the MC2

 

Eons ago, we were all hotly anticipating the release of Marvel Studios Fantastic Four: First Steps. Mere millennia ago, the movie debuted on Disney+ and now, just centuries late, I would like to finally deliver this post about everyone’s favourite planet-devouring, eternally hungry space giant. This is Galactus in the MC2.

 

The prerequisite backstory: Galactus made his debut in Fantastic Four #48 after being preceded by his herald Silver Surfer, a figure of fear among the shape-shifting Skrulls which causes even Uatu the Watcher to break his vow of non-interference by attempting to hide the entirety of planet Earth from Galactus and warning the Fantastic Four of the space titan’s threat. Fantastic Four #48-#50 form a trilogy of issues known colloquially as ‘The Galactus Trilogy’.

 

Galactus’ origin would be first detailed in the pages of Thor #168 and #169. This story would be largely reprinted in Super-Villain Classics #1, reworked and combined with material from other prior appearances, albeit with altered and additional panels which changed the original context to harmonise and update elements of the story. This version of the tale is the one consistently referenced in future retellings, establishing Galactus (formerly a scientist Galan) was a survivor from a universe before the current Marvel Universe came into existence before becoming a universal threat with insatiable hunger.

 

It's possible that Galactus’ last MC2niverse-relevant appearance in the Main Marvel Universe (prior to the two universes branching into divergent realities) is 1996’s Fantastic Four #414, wherein Galactus clashes with powerful foe Hyperstorm, leaving the two trapped in a dimensional void. Alternatively, Silver Surfer (vol.3) #144 which was published in 1998 depicts the space-god Galactus’ return from this void.

 

Now let’s look at the Galactus of Universe-982 aka the MC2. During the events of the Last Planet Standing mini-series, Galactus is poised to destroy the entire universe in an attempt to rid himself of his never-ending hunger, having stockpiled the energy from planets across various galaxies. A gathering of the Great Powers of the Universe took place to discuss the threat posed to reality. The cosmic forces in attendance included Master Order, Lord Chaos, The In-Betweener, The Shaper of Worlds, The Stranger, The Gardener, The Collector and of course The Living Tribunal (Last Planet Standing #2).

 

The Great Powers of the Universe’s attempt to reason with the World-Eater one last time fails. Ultimately deciding they must destroy Galactus using a combined destructive bolt strong enough to wipe out the Earth and the entire Milky Way Galaxy, the Great Powers are halted in their attempt when Reed Richards is forced to use his Transdimensional Cannon's single shot on the cosmic beings (Last Planet Standing #3).

 

With Galactus enacting his final solution on Earth, the combined forces of the superhero community work to penetrate his force field and combat his doomsday weapon’s launch. When Spider-Girl, Stinger and American Dream manage to reverse the polarity of the device’s flow, the resulting backlash causes Galactus to be overloaded with enough energy to kill him and destroy the entire galaxy. As his end approaches, Galactus perceives the presence of Death coming to embrace him.

 

However, at the last moment, Galactus’ former Herald, the Silver Surfer encases them both within an indestructible ethereal force cocoon.  Soon after the assembled heroes of Earth witness the birth of a new gestalt entity composed of the Silver Surfer and Galactus which could harness a new form of energy known as The Power Essential (Last Planet Standing #5).

 

Fortunately, the newly birthed gestalt being composed of Silver Surfer and Galactus harnesses The Power Essential to reassemble The Vision, resurrect others killed during the battle and repair the mass destruction before departing the Earth with a new mission of restoration (Last Planet Standing #5).

I think it is important to mention at this point that the concept of reforging Galactus into a kind of cosmic ‘life bringer’ first appeared in the Last Planet Standing series written by Tom Defalco, pre-dating by nearly a decade a similar storyline in the Main Marvel Universe in the pages of Ultimates (vol. 2) series by writer Al Ewing. Just another example of the MC2 being ahead of the Main Marvel Universe!

 

I’d love to read suggestions for new names for the new being birthed in Last Planet Standing #5, and here’s hoping we see the silver celestial sentinel again some day.

 

Until I satiate my own endless hunger, I remain

 

frogoat

  

 

 

 

 

Stinger: A Case For Cassie Lang's Codename in the MCU

 

While I’ve been particularly busy and going through a lot of personal turbulence, I felt an odd impulse to just throw this together. It’s something I’ve been thinking about since Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was announced and has grown into a bit of a personal obsession. This is my case for why Cassie Lang should be called Stinger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

 

Let’s start with a little background: Officially Marvel Studios hasn’t assigned a codename to their interpretation of Cassie Lang in the MCU. However, there is precedent for official sources to refer to and, as a result, canonize information gleaned from fan-produced sites. An example of this would be the Across the Spider-Verse animated movie from Sony legitimizing the designation of their Venom films as ‘Earth-688’ after the Marvel Fandom wiki used the place-holder designation ‘Earth-TRN688’ (TRN referring to Temporary Reality Number) to refer to it in lieu of any officially provided designation. This itself had a knock-on effect that presents further issues which are beyond what I want to discuss today. Needless to say, sometimes widely accessed fan-curated content, well-meaning though it may can end up creating unintentional ‘Ascended Fanon’.

 

 This brings me to the well-considered Marvel Cinematic Universe wiki, a fantastic resource on anything related to Marvel Studios. While I have the utmost respect for the many contributors to the site, I can’t help but notice they have elected to assign Cassie Lang the codename ‘Stature’ despite the character never being referred to by any superhero title in any official MCU-related material. A look at the character’s talk page revealed the matter has been closed, with the only cited source I can see for the name ‘Stature’ being an early Deadline article that refers to the comic character’s origin and codename. Nothing else.

 

 My main concern, if you can call it that, is that an unassuming and well-meaning Marvel Studios employee will do a brief online search, encounter this wiki entry first and take it at face value, thereby making it official. Not that I dislike fanon being elevated or embraced per se, but it does rather bias the odds of the MCU Cassie being known as Stature rather than Stinger.

 

Here are some examples that reinforce a lack of official codename for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Cassie Lang at this point. Here is the Funko Pop figure, exclusive to the Marvel Collectors Corps, titled ‘Cassie Lang’.

 

Here are some official designs seen on shirts, socks and various other merchandise, again referring to the character as ‘Cassie’ or ‘Cassie Lang’.

 

The Marvel Legends action figure line released a series of 8 figures in its ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Build-A-Figure Cassie Lang’ line which came packaged with various parts which combined to make the character as depicted in Quantumania.

 

Another tie-in to the Quantumania movie, Cassie was introduced to the Marvel’s Contest of Champions mobile game under the title ‘Cassie Lang’. The same is true of this adaption of the character in another mobile game, Marvel’s Future Fight.

 

 

All this to say, clearly the powers that be at Marvel Studios haven’t settled on the character’s codename just yet.

 

Now I’d like to make the case for using the superhero moniker ‘Stinger’ rather than ‘Stature’. Firstly, Cassie adopting Stinger as a superhero title pre-dates Stature, with the MC2 comics A-Next #1 being published in 1998 well before her Main Marvel Universe comic counterpart became a hero and took the name Stature in Young Avengers #6. Yes, the MC2 comics originated the concept of Cassie as a superhero.

 

Secondly, the costume. Cassie debuts her Pym Particle suit in Quantumania and it is primarily purple. The colour purple was first associated with Cassie Lang as Stinger in the MC2 but also inspired her Main Marvel Universe counterpart years later in the pages of Astonishing Ant-Man #6.  In addition, Cassie would ditch Stature too, also adopting Stinger as her codename. Both costumes are nearly identical, and both sport a insect inspired helmet, another element the movie would adapt albeit a full-face mask in keeping with their established rules for shrinking.

 

Additionally, the MCU’s Cassie demonstrates a gifted intellect, another character trait first and most closely associated with the MC2’s version of Cassie. Correct me if I’m wrong, but the Young Avengers Cassie isn’t known for her scientific ability.

 

I’ve talked about all this before and I’m sure I’ll probably bring it up again some time. I’m also aware there are elements of Cassie in Quantumania that are more aligned with the Stature name, such as her ability to grow to giant size, but I think it’s important to make the argument all the same. I’d personally love to see ‘Stinger’ make the jump to the big-screen and see Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz’s creation get more recognition.

 

Until I stop questioning how they are growing and shrinking at subatomic size, I remain

 

frogoat