It’s long been claimed that there’s one big Easter Egg still waiting to be uncovered in Guardians of the Galaxy, and now a fan thinks he’s found it and its implications could be enormous.
Planet-devouringly enormous in fact, because it’s being said that there’s a secret reference to none other than Galactus in the movie. The theory comes courtesy of YouTuber Second Son, who’s put together a smartly edited and soundtracked video that draws some visual parallels between quick shots in the film and Galactus’ origins in the comics.
Most of these moments come during the Collector’s history lesson, in which he explains the origins and power of the Infinity Stones. During this scene, many images flash across his holographic displays. Among them is a purple planet, which looks a bit like Taa – the homeworld of Galactus. Then you have the images of the Celestial beings destroying worlds, with the design of their staffs looking suspiciously similar to Galactus’ iconic helmet horns.
As interesting as it is, there’s still a couple of things standing in the way of this theory. First (and probably most important) is that Disney and Marvel Studios don’t have the rights to use Galactus – they’re with Fox as part of the Fantastic Four IP. If they actually did hint towards a character they legally can’t use, they’re leaving themselves open to being sued by Fox, who would have a damn good case.
Secondly, convincingly edited as the video is, these observations seem like a little bit of a stretch. After all, there’s plenty of purple planets in the MCU. And that Galactus-shaped staff? Well, that’s probably less a specific nod towards Galactus and more the filmmakers aping his creator Jack Kirby’s character designs.
Having said all that, I think it’s certain (if Disney acquire the Fox IPs) we’ll see the fan favorite in the MCU sooner or later. With Thanos (probably) out of the picture after Avengers 4, the franchise is going to need a new major villain to start building up over the next few phases, and who better than Galactus and his herald, the Silver Surfer?