The Avengers’ Most Powerful Enemy is Coming For Galactus

Warning! Spoilers ahead for Iron Man #4

Galactus may be the Devourer of Worlds, but he’s not the only cosmic powerhouse in Marvel Comics. In fact, the ongoing Iron Man series from Christopher Cantwell, Cafu, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Joe Caramagna just put Galactus on a collision course with the notorious Korvac, and Tony Stark is caught right in the middle.

Korvac is the Avengers’ most powerful enemy you’ve never heard of. Originally intended as a one-off antagonist, Korvac recently made his return in Cantwell’s Iron Man, where he started by duping Tony into funding his evil plot. Korvac previously killed nearly all of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in Avengers #177 by Jim Shooter, but as Tony points out, “Back then [Korvac] was a cosmic entity…Right now he’s just a cut-rate android.” While Stark is selling Korvac’s capabilities a bit short here, it’s true that the villain is nowhere near his past power level, but Iron Man #4 finally reveals how he plans to change that.

The issue opens with breaking news: James Rhodes, AKA War Machine, is missing. As Tony and Hellcat suspect, Rhodey has been captured by Korvac, who is hiding out with his minions in an old gothic church. Using a place of worship as his lair is fitting considering Korvac’s end goal is to become a god himself – something he will accomplish the same way he did last time: by boarding Taa II, the ship of Galactus. See, the way Korvac obtained his cosmic abilities in the past was by downloading data from Galactus’s ship, which allowed him to wield the Power Cosmic, the source of godlike energy used by Galactus and his heralds. If Korvac manages to regain access to the Power Cosmic, he will become virtually unstoppable, but that’s easier said than done. To do it, Korvac will need to make it past Galactus himself, who as Rhodey puts it, “doesn’t take kindly to visitors.”

Challenging Galactus on his own turf may seem like a suicide mission, but Korvac is no fool. He’s successfully infiltrated Galactus’s ship before, so it stands to reason he could do it again. On the flip side, Galactus may be more cognizant of intruders having already been robbed once. Should Korvac be discovered before getting the Power Cosmic in his system, Galactus would surely annihilate him in a straight fight. Keep in mind, Galactus is one of the most powerful entities in the Marvel Universe, capable of destroying entire planets and absorbing their energy to amplify his already incredible powers, which include telepathy, telekinesis, transmutation of matter, cosmic energy blasts, bringing the dead back to life, and so much more. However, Korvac is undoubtedly already aware of this having sampled the Power Cosmic himself and likely has a failsafe in case the plan goes south.

The comic ends with Korvac beginning the process of absorbing the Earth’s electrical plasma, which may give him enough of a boost to put up a fight against Galactus. A fight between two of Marvel’s most powerful villains would be legendary, but for the sake of the Marvel Universe, hopefully, Iron Man has a trick up his armored sleeve to stop the cosmic battle before it begins.

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