THE OTHER: Galactus’ Most Terrifying Enemy Is the Perfect Candidate to Replace Him in the MCU

While there’s not doubting that Galactus will make an incredible antagonist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there is an even more terrifying cosmic villain in Marvel lore that the company should bring to the screen. The ancient enemy known only as THE OTHER would be an ambitious character to integrate into the MCU – one that would allow Galactus to be utilized in an even more complex role.

The Mighty Thor Annual #1 – written by J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Richard Elson – featured an epic battle between some of the oldest forces in the Marvel Universe, one that ultimately climaxed with the intervention of Galactus.

The Other’s attempt to consume all reality was only stymied by Galactus’ opposition; had they unleashed their full power on one another, the Multiverse itself would have been destroyed. As a result, the Other agreed to a temporary truce. The story features Marvel’s cosmic storytelling at its best, and would make for a thrilling future chapter in the MCU.

THE OTHER Would Be An Even More Ambitious MCU Villain Than Galactus

A Primordial Lovecraftian Antagonist

In The Mighty Thor Annual #1, “the Other” is depicted as as a massive monster in space, evoking the horrors of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulu mythos. According to the account presented in the issue, the Other remained locked in an endless struggle with its counterpart – a masked humanoid figure known as the Scrier – since before the creation of the Marvel Multiverse, ranking them among the publisher’s most primeval entities. When the displacement of Asgard across dimensions resulted in a shift in the balance of power between the two, the Other made its move to consume the entirety of existence.

Bringing the Other into the MCU would fit the trend of the film franchise, which has increasingly placed an emphasis on the scope and grandeur of the Multiverse. While Galactus was originally conceived of as the greatest force in the Marvel Universe, subsequent decades worth of lore have reduced him to one of just many powerful cosmic Marvel entities. Though the “Eater of Worlds” makes for a potent threat to Earth, the Other is a more suitable antagonist for the Marvel Cinematic Universe because its tendrils can spread across the movies’ increasingly fractal timelines.

THE OTHER Is The Unequivocally Inhuman Antagonist The MCU Needs

A Wildly Different Villain Than Thanos

As a character, Galactus has grown beyond his original strictly villainous role, something that plays a vital part in the plot of The Mighty Thor Annual #1. Should he appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the studio may want to use him in a role more in line with the contemporary version of the character. Adapting the conflict between the Scrier and the Other, and preserving Galactus’ part in the climactic battle, would allow him to appear on-screen in a major role that goes beyond his villainy.

Part of what made Thanos successful as the villain of the MCU’s early Phases was how effectively Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame humanized the character. That is also what makes him incredibly hard to top – and while Kang the Conqueror, or Doctor Doom, or even Galactus, to a degree, might offer audiences a variation on the familiar, the Other would be a chance for Marvel to do something utterly different. In the MCU, the ultimate threat to the Multiverse should be something more than human, and the Other ranks among the cosmic Marvel characters that would best fit that scope.

The Other Vs. The Scrier: Their Endless Struggle Was Cosmic Marvel At Its Finest

The Mighty Thor Annual #1, A Single Issue Epic

Marvel Comics has a long history of cosmic storytelling, and 2012’s The Mighty Thor Annual #1 gloriously situates itself within that tradition. Marvel’s Earth-bound heroes are absent from the issue entirely; when the God of Thunder is among the weakest characters in a story, readers know that they have ascended to an epic level of cosmic action that only the most ambitious creators are willing to tread. The Scrier and the Other are as mysterious as they are old and powerful – and the role of Oblivion as the Annual’s narrator adds another layer to the story entirely.

While the Scrier and the Other ostensibly represent the timeless battle of good vs. evil, The Mighty Thor Annual #1 complicates matters, by making the precise intentions of the ancient enemies just ambiguous enough. The story stands out as an exemplary entry in Marvel’s pantheon of cosmic plots; adapting The Mighty Thor Annual #1 would give Marvel Studios a clear road-map to follow for a spectacular Multiversal conflict, one that can envelop the past, present, and future of the MCU.

Galactus Proved He’s Among Marvel’s Fiercest Characters By Forcing “The Other” To A Stalemate

A Storyline That Would Help The MCU Ascend To The Next Level

Notably, Galactus does not defeat the Other in The Mighty Thor Annual #1 – but his power-level is significant enough that it is stated that were they to carry out their fight to the bitter end, reality would be destroyed in the process. This serves as one of Galactus’ strongest moments, while at the same time making it clear that his power is a nuisance to the Other, but not an actual problem. In all, the Other is presented as one of the Marvel Universe’s most dangerous threats, something that the MCU could expand on significantly beyond the source material.

The Other notes it has agents throughout the Marvel Multiverse, so even after Galactus forces it to a stalemate for the time being, it remains a potent menace. In other words, the Other would make a strong, long-term, overarching antagonist for the MCU, one who could work through a variety of agents in successive films, similar to Thanos’ introduction in early Phases. While Galactus appears set to have his villainous origin adapted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios still has the opportunity to use him in a vastly different context by adapting The Mighty Thor Annual #1.