Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, has stood as an imposing figure within the Marvel Comics Universe since his first appearance more than 50 years ago. However, if the events of Marvel Zombies: Resurrection #4 are any indication, Galactus’ worst nightmare isn’t the Ultimate Nullifier, but instead, a certain Ragin’ Cajun.
Marvel Zombies: Resurrection reveals that the planet-eating giant is actually ground zero for a new zombie apocalypse after Galactus himself had a fatal encounter with the Brood, creating a new breed of zombies that have taken up residence in his massive husk. The fourth issue sees the survivors – including Peter Parker, Blade, Wolverine, Franklin, and Valeria Richards – transported to the Galactus Hive for a face-off with the zombie horde.
There the Richards children are faced with the horrible truth – that their parents have irreversibly become monsters intent on infecting them as well. However, Valeria holds a literal trump card – the hands of Remy LeBeau aka Gambit. These hands can charge any object with kinetic energy, often with explosive results. Throughout the series, Valeria has been weaponizing the remains of the now-zombified X-Men to devastating effect, and Gambit’s hands prove to be no exception. She uses Gambit’s remains to create an exit, and eventually charge up Galactus’ entire husk, killing all within while the survivors made their escape.
So could the X-Men’s Gambit really deal massive damage to the Devourer of Worlds? Well, the answer seems to be surprisingly, yes – with a few caveats. Galactus is definitely no pushover – in addition to his massive form, the giant wields the Power Cosmic, which he imbues on his heralds such as the Silver Surfer, and includes such powers as energy blasts, cosmic awareness, portals, transmutation, and even resurrection. In a one-on-one fight, Gambit wouldn’t stand much of a chance, barring the outside chance that he could con Galactus into lowering his defenses (which isn’t totally out of the X-Man’s roguish capabilities). However, assuming Gambit could get in close enough to Galactus, he probably could charge up some or most of Galactus through the advanced armor that covers his body. Gambit’s one limitation, however, is that he cannot charge up organic matter (like people), so it’s unknown how much of Galactus’ body would be affected. Still, Galactus himself is described as “the physical, metamorphosed embodiment of a cosmos”, and it is possible that most of his body isn’t organic anyway.
It should also be noted that Galactus needs to feed in order to power his massive abilities, and one of Galactus’ major weaknesses is, in fact, starvation. If Gambit confronted him in such a state, he’d have much better odds of surviving and perhaps even winning a physical confrontation, as the Devourer of Worlds has been defeated by the combined might of the Fantastic Four and Avengers on several occasions in this way. Regardless, Galactus certainly has a few weaknesses Gambit could exploit.
Ultimately, Marvel Zombies: Resurrection by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Leonard Kirk is proving to be an exciting reboot of the Marvel Zombie franchise. The series balances the horror and interpersonal elements that have kept the zombie genre thriving, without forgetting what makes superpowers cool to begin with. This issue alone shows that Gambit’s powers alone could give the Devourer of World a truly explosive case of indigestion.
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