First Victory Over Galactus Shows Reed Richards Not as Smart as Everyone Says
Often hailed as a genius whose intelligence surpasses even cosmic entities, Reed Richards—also known as Mr. Fantastic—is But his first triumph over Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, presents a different picture—one in which his intelligence falls short of what's usually accepted.
The weapon that revealed the limits of Reed Richards' ultimate nullifier
When Galactus first surfaced in the Fantastic Four comics, Reed Richards threatened him with the Ultimate Nullifier—a weapon able to wipe everything. Many people credit this event as evidence of Reed's genius since it shows his capacity to outsmart a cosmic entity. Deeper examination, though, reveals a different narrative.
Galacta, Galactus' daughter, is looking for a means to eradicate a parasitic entity known as the Tapeworm Cosmic in Adam Warren and Hector Sevilla Lujan's comic book series "Galacta: Daughter of Galactus." Her own body's Power Cosmic source helped this parasite start. Her hunt for a cure turns her into aware the Ultimate Nullifier as the only weapon able to eradicate this parasite.
Galacta's hunt brings her to the Fantastic Four, the only known entities having used the Ultimate Nullifier prior. She accesses their "worldlines," cosmic links revealing the exact location of the weapon. This trip across their worldlines reveals a crucial detail: the safety mechanism of the Ultimate Nullifier turned on when Reed Richards threatened Galactus.
Galacta Reveals the Reality: Reed Richards Never Threatened Galactus
Galacta's disclosure demolish the idea that Reed Richards ever really threatened Galactus. He was blind to the safety mechanism and its activated state, thus his threat was only a bluff. This reveals a basic weakness in Reed's claimed cosmic intelligence.
The Space Between Cosmic Awareness and Human Intelligence
Though Reed Richards is clearly among the most intelligent creatures in the Marvel Universe, his brilliance is essentially human. Conversely, Galactus, via the Power Cosmic, is a being tightly entwined with the fabric of the universe. For Reed Richards as well as others, this relationship provides knowledge and insight incomprehensible to humans.
Galacta's View of Humanity
Galacta's view of humanity is glimpsed from her interaction with the Fantastic Four. As "akin to a mere human having a lone intestinal bacterium as an arch-enemy," Galacta describes the conflict between Galactus and the Fantastic Four. Emphasizing the insignificance of humanity in the big picture of the universe, this viewpoint shows the great gulf separating cosmic entities from humans.
The limited cosmic scale of Reed Richards' intelligence
Though Reed Richards' inventions and scientific prowess show his genius, these successes do not raise him to the same cosmic awareness as Galactus. Driven by ignorance and a stroke of luck, his first triumph over Galactus is not evidence of his cosmic intelligence but rather a reminder of the boundaries of human knowledge.
