Despite Galactus' Huge Size, He's Not Actually the Largest MCU Villain

Although Galactus comes into The Fantastic Four: First Steps with monumental size, technically, he is not the largest villain in MCU history. While many of the MCU's villains from the last 17 years have been human-sized, the comics include some of the most enormous and intimidating beings ever created. The most recent of these additions is Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, who was finally depicted the way he was in the comics on the big screen.

Galactus made his MCU debut in The Fantastic Four: First Steps behind Ralph Ineson's vocal and motion capture performance. While the villain's official size (according to Marvel) is 28 feet, 9 inches tall, the Devourer far outdid those measurements. Able to change his size at will, Galactus cast a shadow over most of New York City when coming to Earth. 

This likely places the gargantuan villain about 12 miles tall in this form, which can also be seen when he looms over the Statue of Liberty. However, considering he can dwarf planets, his actual size is almost immeasurable. When he stands in front of the Fantastic Four, he is almost certainly close to that 12-mile mark. However, even for as big as he is, he does not rank as the biggest villain in MCU history.

The title for the MCU's biggest villain, size-wise, goes to the Celestial Arishem from 2021's Eternals, who towers over the Earth on multiple occasions. His exact size is unconfirmed, but comparing him to the Earth (which is about 7,900 miles from pole to pole), the Celestial is about twice that height (approximately 16,000 miles from head to toe).

Considering how The Fantastic Four ended, it seems that fans have not seen the last of Galactus in the MCU, as he was thrown into the deep end of the universe that contains Earth-828. This means he could return in a future MCU project, which may allow him to grow to even bigger sizes as he consumes more planets across the galaxy. For now, though, this leaves Arishem as the biggest villain the MCU has to offer.

Starring Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Fantastic Four is the first movie released in Marvel Studios' Phase 6 slate. The team starts four years into their run as heroes before they are thrown into their scariest battle yet, as Galactus seeks to consume their planet on his journey across the universe. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters worldwide. Ahead are five of the MCU's other largest villains from the franchise's 17-year history:

The MCU's 5 Other Largest Villains in History

Dormammu (Doctor Strange)

Dormammu is in a unique position on this list, as he is the ruler of the Dark Dimension and the biggest being in that dimension. While his size is never explicitly laid out, he appears in front of Doctor Strange at the end of 2016's Doctor Strange and makes the Master of the Mystic Arts look minuscule in comparison.

Looking down at Strange, the titular doctor appears to be about as big as Dormammu's pupil, meaning the villain is likely at least a few miles tall, still coming far short of Galactus and Arishem.

Ego the Living Planet (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)

Kurt Russell made his MCU debut in 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, playing the villainous Ego. Of note about Ego is that he is classified as a living planet, which is shown in full during the film's third act.

Early in Guardians 2, Ego tells the Guardians that his planet is "no bigger than your Earth's moon," about a quarter of the size of the Earth. Given that other villains on this list make the Earth look small, they would dwarf the moon even further, with the Earth being four times bigger than Ego the Living Planet.

Surtur (Thor: Ragnarok)

Going to something that can actually fit on a planet, Thor: Ragnarok introduced the Fire Demon Surtur, the Lord of Muspelheim. Prophecizing that Ragnarok would come and leave Asgard in ruins, he evolved into his full form with the Eternal Flame at the end of the movie, towering over the Realm Eternal.

By the end of the film, Surtur grows to approximately 1,000 feet tall, towering over Asgard's palace and making Thor and the Hulk look miniscule comparatively. This is also far bigger than his original form at the start of the film, where he stands just under 20 feet tall next to the God of Thunder.

The Elementals (Spider-Man: Far From Home)

Spider-Man: Far From Home pitted Tom Holland's web-slinger against a group of scary antagonists known as the Elementals. While they were later revealed to be illusions created by Jake Gyllenhaal's Quentin Beck, better known as Mysterio, that drones he used brought terrifying creatures to life across Europe.

Size-wise, the biggest of the Elementals looked down on London's Tower Bridge, which is 213 feet tall at its tallest point. With all five creatures being close in size, they all stood roughly between 300 and 400 feet at their biggest, still coming up small compared to other MCU villains.

Sandman (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Thomas Haden Church returned to the world of Spider-Man in the MCU's Spider-Man: No Way Home, reprising his role from Spider-Man 3 as Flint Marko/Sandman. While the character was brought to life completely through CGI, he towered over his villainous cohorts on countless occasions in the movie.

In the final battle, Sandman's head is about four or five times taller than the three Spider-Men, likely being about 20 feet tall. Taking that and using it to predict his full height, he likely stands anywhere from 150 to 200 feet tall.