Often touted as the strongest cosmic entity in Marvel Comic‘s exhaustively large cosmic pantheon, Galactus rightfully has nothing to fear. Except he does, especially when it comes to one of the Celestials featured in the MCU‘s recent Eternals film. Galactus has taken on and defeated many Celestials in the comics, but when he learns about Tiamut the Dreaming Celestial, it takes all his willpower not to flee to farthest reaches of the universe.
The 2021 film Eternals featured the MCU’s version of the awakening and birth of Tiamut. In the movie Tiamut is grown from a Celestial seed buried within the Earth, feeding off the energy of the planet’s lifeforms. Its destiny is to wait until the population reaches a certain threshold, at which point it will awaken and destroy the planet. While the Eternals are supposed to let the emergence happen, in the film they instead decide to stop it. It takes the combined effort the Eternals, Uni-Mind, and even the Dreaming Celestial himself to stop him from awakening and destroying the Earth.
In the 2006 comic Eternals #6 by Neil Gaiman and John Romita Jr., the Earth is threatened by the imminent awakening of Tiamut. As the Eternals and members of the Avengers fight to stop this from happening, the universe shutters as the Dreaming Celestial prepares to awaken. When this happens, Uatu the Watcher cannot watch, and Galactus pauses and “remembers what it is to be afraid.” Considering Galactus once beat multiple Celestials at once, so for there to be one that he is specifically afraid of speaks to Tiamut’s incredible ability.
So, what is it about Tiamut that makes him so feared and powerful that even Galactus trembles in his presence? The answer to that lies with The Fulcrum, the cosmic entity responsible for the creation of the Celestials, the Watchers, and in one way or another, everything that exists in the Marvel Universe. Some fans believe that the Fulcrum is actually The One Above All, the Marvel Universe’s equivalent of God, but there is no concrete evidence of this. This is important because Tiamut is the only Celestial to ever defy and question the Fulcrum about his true purpose. At one point he even asks the Fulcrum to spare Earth rather than sacrifice it for the Celestial’s grand plan. The Fulcrum is actually happy about this and reveals that it wanted one of Marvel’s Celestials to rise above its purpose and join the Fulcrum as an omnipotent companion. Tiamut accepts this position.
To join the side of God (in a non-Biblical sense) is a feat no other being has accomplished before. Humans and other races might have free will in exchange for less power, but cosmic entities have predetermined purposes and immense power. So for Tiamut to show some type of his own willpower to defy his creator—and then join its side—makes him a creation that any sensible being should fear. Tiamut’s sentiment for Earth is reflected slightly in the MCU‘s Eternals, but the comics show him off as an entity that is capable of defying all of creation. Even though there are threats more powerful than Galactus and the Celestials in Marvel Comics, Galactus has never feared anything as much as he’s feared Tiamut.
