Galactus is the Devourer of Worlds, a being older than the current Marvel Universe who must carry out a cosmic task of death, destruction, and balance. Galactus is a force of nature, neither good nor bad, and has even proved himself to be a genuinely good person when given the chance to do so. Knull, on the other hand, is a vile and cruel villain who actively seeks universal control through his Klyntar hivemind, and despises all forms of light and life with every fiber of his being. While the broad-strokes about their characters may paint a descriptive enough picture to see how the King in Black is superior, there are far more examples scattered throughout Marvel lore to better prove the point. Here are the Top 10 reasons why the King in Black is a better cosmic villain than Galactus.

10 Symbiote Army

As shown in the first issue of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s King In Black, Knull has an army of symbiotes that can be used for a number of different purposes. Some symbiotes manifest as dragons, and can fly through space independent of a host. Others are meant to only possess the most powerful hosts in the cosmos, like Celestials. Then, there are the symbiotes that are simply melded together to encom an entire planet, the way these did to Earth during the crossover. Galactus has Heralds that do his bidding and find him planets to consume, but they oftentimes fall short, with most being pretty forgettable. Knull’s army, on the other hand, is a perfect cosmic strike force that no one is forgetting anytime soon.

9 Driven By Hatred

Galactus is forced to consume worlds to maintain a cosmic balance. He gives certain planets a break whenever he can, but he mostly just does his task without allowing himself to feel empathy for those he destroys. Knull, however, absolutely hates the universe’s abundance of life, and his sole mission is to eliminate them all and return the universe to the perpetual blackness that was there before the beginning. This was made clear upon Knull’s origin story in Venom #3 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman, and was something the King in Black very nearly succeeded in doing during the King In Black crossover.

8 Scarier Design

Galactus is iconic, to be sure, and has been since his first appearance in Fantastic Four #48 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. That being said, his look is much more retro-cool than it is intimidating. Meanwhile, the King in Black is something born of nightmares, a being who exists in the artistic uncanny valley between human and monster. Galactus is a classic Sci-Fi space being, while Knull is something more akin to a demon, making his design much scarier and, in turn, much more intimidating.

7 Grew Naturally In Venom Lore

Unlike Galactus, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, the King in Black was a villain who grew naturally within Venom lore. He was introduced through the corpse of a long-dead symbiote dragon, appearing as little more than a memory and a promise of his malevolent return in Venom #3-4 by Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman. Then, fans got Absolute Carnage, which showed how detrimental Knull could be even on the other side of the universe. Only then, after years of build-up, is the King in Black revealed in all his horrifying glory.

6 A True ‘Final Boss’

The King in Black answers to no one, and there’s no one above him. Sure, there are beings that can match Knull, but as the God of the Abyss, he’s the highest on his particular cosmic ladder. Galactus, on the other hand, is little more than a lesser version of the Black Winter (as revealed in Thor #4 by Donny Cates and Nic Klein). The Black Winter consumes entire universes while Galactus resides in a single universe and only consumes planets, which is a classic ‘bigger fish’ situation that the King in Black cannot relate to in the slightest.

5 Older Than Galactus

Galactus began his life as a mortal man named Galan, and was the sole survivor of the sixth incarnation of the universe. The Marvel Universe as fans know it is the seventh - and later eighth, after the events of 2015’s Secret Wars. The King in Black, however, is of the third installment of the universe, making him three whole universal cycles older than Galan, and four older than Galactus. At least, in the meta-physical sense. The King in Black is what became of the Anti-All, whose great defeat by the hand of Lifebringer One during the third universal cycle led to the creation of a God of the Abyss (all of which is explained in Defenders #5 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez). Therefore, who the King in Black is and what his moniker represents is far older than Galactus, and much more significant.

4 Fewer Losses

Galactus can consume entire planets and wields the Power Cosmic, meaning it’s no question that he’s powerful, but he does sure seem to lose a lot. He was bested by the Fantastic Four during his earliest Marvel Comics stories, he was killed by Thor when the God of Thunder became King of Asgard, and he even lost to Thanos during the AU Thanos Wins storyline. While, yes, the King in Black was also beaten, it was due to the intervention of his cosmic opposite (more on that below) in a fight that arguably could have gone either way in King In Black #5. Basically, one of the few entities that could beat Knull did, whereas Galactus has lost to a number of different people in a number of different ways on multiple occasions. This allows Knull to retain a sense of power and near-invulnerability that Galactus lost years ago.

3 Has A Cosmic Opposite

The aforementioned ‘cosmic opposite’ of Knull is the Enigma Force, which was literally only created to combat the darkness Knull’s existence brought to the universe. Where there is dark, so too is there light, and these two are in a cosmic dance of balance that has been going on for eons. When Knull overstepped in the King In Black crossover event, the Enigma Force possessed Eddie Brock’s Venom and engaged Knull in epic combat, resulting in Knull’s death and Eddie Brock’s inheritance of the King in Black title. This sense of a hero/villain balance gives Knull a universal significance that Galactus - as a mostly apathetic force of nature - sorely lacks.

2 More Varied Storytelling Potential (for the King in Black Title)

Even though Knull is dead, the storytelling potential for the King in Black is endless, something that’s quite literally proven true with the latest volume of Venom comics from Al Ewing, Ram V, and Bryan Hitch. After Eddie Brock killed Knull with the help of the Enigma Force, he filled that cosmic void and became the King in Black. Like what was shown in Defenders #5 with the Anti-All essentially becoming the King in Black, this proved that the title can move from one entity to another. Therefore, when Eddie Brock’s time is done, there will be a new King in Black whose stories can be told, and on and on in perpetuity. Galactus is one entity who is supposed to be eternal, but who also can clearly be killed and beaten. Plus, his role in the universe is relatively boring, with no real foundation for solo-stories - at least, not compared to the King in Black.

1 Limitless Storytelling Potential (for Knull)

Not only does the King in Black title hold nearly limitless storytelling potential, but so, too, does Knull himself. Much of Knull’s personal backstory is still a mystery, with recent issues of Venom suggesting he used to be a normal person before he took on the role of the King in Black - and was even horrified by the prospect of becoming something so dark. This leaves a lot of room for future stories, even after his defeat during the King In Black crossover event. Sure, there is also potential for stories involving Galan, but those wouldn’t really be ‘Galactus’ stories the same way the early life of Knull would be ‘King in Black’ stories, allowing for much more interesting adventures in Knull’s case.

The King in Black is scarier looking, is truly evil with no room for compromise, and has way more storytelling potential than Galactus, both in of the title King in Black and Knull’s King in Black. Overall it’s no contest, Galactus might be more recognizable to the wider fanbase given how long he’s been featured in Marvel Comics, but the King in Black is easily a better cosmic villain, and these Top 10 reasons prove it.