Summary

• Reed Richards' victory over Galactus actually proves he's not as smart as fans assume.
• Galacta's search for the Ultimate Nullifier reveals Reed didn't know how to use the Ultimate Nullifier when he won his first victory over Galactus.
• Galactus sees humanity and the Fantastic Four as insignificant; proven true by Reed's intelligence falling short on a cosmic scale.

One of Reed Richards’ most famous victories was over Reed’s first victory over Galactus actually proves the opposite, that he’s not as smart as everyone assumes.

In Galacta: Daughter of Galactus by Adam Warren and Hector Sevilla Lujan, Galacta is suffering from a stomach parasite (which she calls the Tapeworm Cosmic) that manifested from the Power Cosmic within her own body. Believing it will kill her, Galacta searches for a way to remove the parasite, which brings her to one of the few weapons in the known universe with the power to do just that: the Ultimate Nullifier.

Of course, Galacta had no idea where the Ultimate Nullifier was, so she pays a visit to the people who once used it against her own father, the Fantastic Four. Galacta reads their ‘worldlines’, which pinpoints the exact location of the Ultimate Nullifier through their cosmic signature connectedness. Upon doing so, Galacta is able to peer into the past and see the exact moment when Reed Richards threatened Galactus with the cosmic weapon, at which point, she reveals to fans one crucial detail: the Ultimate Nullifier’s safety was on.

Reed Richards was Never an Actual Threat to Galactus (He’s Not Smart Enough)

Galacta reveals that Reed Richards was never actually a threat to Galactus, as he didn’t even know the Ultimate Nullifier had a safety, let alone that it was on when he used it to threaten the Devourer of Worlds. This proves that, not only was Reed not a threat to Galactus during one of his most iconic victories in history, but that he will never be - he’s just not smart enough.

To be clear, saying Reed Richards isn’t smart enough to be a real threat to Galactus isn’t to say that he’s not intelligent, as he’s proven to be one of the smartest people in the universe many times over. But that’s the thing, Reed’s just a person. Galactus, in contrast, is a being whose mind is interwoven with the very fabric of the universe through the Power Cosmic, giving him knowledge and insight on a level that Reed couldn’t fathom.

Marvel Comics Confirms How Galactus Really Sees the Fantastic Four (& All Humanity)

Galacta: The Daughter of Galactus is one of the few times it is put into perspective how Galactus really sees the Fantastic Four - and all humanity/organic life, for that matter. When speaking with the Fantastic Four, Galacta comments on how genuinely hilarious the perception of Galactus’ feud with them really is, saying, “that status is akin to a mere human having a lone intestinal bacterium as an arch-enemy…”. That’s how Galactus sees humans, so small and insignificant that they could never truly threaten him. And, unfortunately, Reed Richards’ ineptitude with the Ultimate Nullifier only proved him right.

Reed Richards is undoubtedly one of the smartest characters in the Marvel Universe, capable of inventing technology so advanced it can be weighted on a cosmic scale. However, that sometimes leads fans to assume that he, himself, is on the same level as a cosmic being with his intelligence alone, but Galacta confirms that’s not the case, as Reed Richards’ first victory over Galactus actually proves he’s not as ‘cosmically’ smart as most Fantastic Four fans assumes.