Those who watchedFantastic Four: First Stepsmay have been shocked to seeGalactushail down from his ship, the Taa II. This scene may have come as a surprise to many, considering that Galactus' World-Ship is perhaps the most overlooked aspect of his lore. It’s understated not only to moviegoers and mainstream audiences, but even to readers familiar with his best comic stories.
Galactus' ship is often used as a plot device to get the character from Point A to Point B within the story, but it is seldom a focal point in that same story. It’s easy to either miss or forget. Now, with his MCU debut, it’s as good a time as any to get to knowthe beastly Planet Eater’sfavorite mode of transportation.
8Galactus’s Godly Ship is Literally the Size of a Solar System
The Taa II is so Big, Planets Orbit It
The size of Galactuscan vary depending on not only how he’s depicted, but also when he chooses to shrink himself down to around 30 feet tall when he arrives on a planet like Earth. For his entire natural mass, it’s necessary for him to have a ship big enough to carry the literal weight of his entire being.
The Taa II is up to the task. While the descriptions of Galactus' ship itself tend to vary for the same reason that Galactus' size varies per depiction, the Taa II typically ranges between being the size of a planet or the size of a solar system that planets actually orbit around.
7Galactus Intended His Ship to Be a Tribute to His Homeworld of Taa
An Explanation of Why His Ship is Called Taa II
Many readers will see the name Taa II and assume that it’s an indicator that it is the second of its kind. That isn’t necessarily the case. The original Taa was not a ship, but Galactus' home world from his fallen universe. As laid out inGalactus' origin story, he’s the last survivor of his world.
After narrowly escaping imminent destruction, Galactus spent several years constructing the space station that he would call Taa II in his world’s honor. To create the ship, he would use raw material from another planet. He may seem like a coldhearted monster on the outside, but he’s just as emotionally sentimental as anyone else.
6It Took Galactus a Millennium to Complete His Ship
Why Did It Take So Long to Build the Taa II?
Truth be told, to say that it took several years to complete the Taa II may be an understatement. In reality, it actually took an entire millennium for Galactus to finish building his ship. On paper, it sounds natural that it would take so many years to finish building a ship that is as big as the Taa II.
In actuality, the Taa II’s construction had less to do with the building process and more to do with the fact that Galactus still needed to feed during construction. Galactus wasn’t in need of a simple lunch break, as he’d have to find time to search for suitable planets to consume whilst building his ship.
5The Taa II is Built from the Raw Materials of Archeopia
The First Planet Galactus Ever Consumed
Taa II isn’t just a homage to Galactus' lost world, but also to Archeopia, the first planet he ever consumed. When his world was destroyed, and he resurfaced after the Big Bang, the closest planet in his vicinity was a world called Archeopia. This would become the Devourer of Worlds' first victim.
Archeopia ranks among themost important planets Galactus destroyednot only because it’s his first, but because he would use the raw materials from this planet to help construct the making of Taa II. In a twisted way, Taa II was made in honor of both Galactus' homeworld and the first world he’d consume.
4Taa II Contains an Alien Zoo
As seen inFantastic Four#210 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne
One day, the Fantastic Four venture into Galactus' ship, where they stumble upon a room filled with creatures in captivity, much like a zoo. The display is littered with indescribable alien lifeforms of a wide variety. Each alien features elements of familiar characteristics of animals, but morphed into something completely different.
This includes a giant creature as scaly as a chameleon, or an even bigger animal similar to a furry owl on hind legs. Still, these are utterly unique beings. The Marvel Universe is filled withterrifying alien speciesand morbid animals, but Galactus' forgotten caged beasts may be the most underrated creature designs that Marvel’s ever featured.
3Galactus' Ship Has Several Automatic Defenses
Meet Galactus' Punishers: His Most Badass Defense System
Being the giant contraption that it is, it should come as no surprise that Galactus' ship also remains guarded and weaponized, often by features installed and created by Galactus himself. This would include his Punishers. No, not a series of cloned Frank Castles, butrobotic watchdogs built by Galactus.
Meanwhile, the Taa II also has its own security system, equipped with a robotic sentry designed to ward off any potential invaders. Simply defeating the sentry isn’t an option, because it features a self-destruct option in a time of distress. Needless to say, Galactus' Worldship is prepared for any and everything imaginable.
2Superman Has Been On Board Taa II
The List of Superheroes Who Entered the Taa II is Shocking
A select few people have ever managed to find themselves aboard the Taa II, much less live to tell the tale. The few who have stepped under Galactus' ship have usually been superheroes, among them being the Fantastic Four. On a different occasion, Iron Man ran into Galactus’s deadly sentry.
In another instance, Superman from DC Comics entered the Tae II during theSuperman, Fantastic Four: The Infinite Destructioncrossover from Dan Jurgens and Art Thibert. During this encounter,Superman becomes Galactus' Herald, and as such, appears later on his ship. As a Herald, he essentially has infinite access to his ship at any time.
1It Was Originally Used to Store the Ultimate Nullifier
Marvel’s Most Powerful Weapon
It is well-documented by now that the Ultimate Nullifier is one of the mostsurefire ways to defeat Galactus, but not everyone is aware of the device’s origins. Galactus originally stored the weapon on his ship, something that Uatu the Watcher would notify The Human Torch about, sending him onto his ship to retrieve it.
It’s later revealed during the"Reckoning War"event that the weapon was created during the battle between Watchers and Prosilicans, with Emmu the Watcher creating it as a deciding factor. The weapon is kept onGalactus’ship as a means of precaution to contain it from the rest of the universe and stop anyone from using it against him.
