Who is Galacta in Marvel Rivals? Female Galactus explained

The Marvel Rivals reveal trailer surprised everyone with a female Galactus, bringing the popular character Galacta into video games for the first time.

The first look at Marvel Rivals, the upcoming PVP shooter from Netease, definitely caught fans by surprise. The trailer showcases some all-time favorite Marvel characters, including Spider-Man, The Punisher, and Rocket Racoon. 

But for eagle-eyed fans, the trailer did have one big surprise: the appearance of Galacta, the Daughter of Galactus. 

Who is Galacta, Daughter of Galactus?

Galacta, more informally known as Gali, is the daughter of the cosmic being Galactus. She’s a deep-cut character, which makes her presence here somewhat surprising.

To date, Galacta has only appeared in one story, which was split across a couple of releases–namely the Marvel Assistant-Sized Spectacular #2 and the one-shot Galacta, Daughter of Galactus (itself a collection of short comics released digitally). 

In the story, we learn that Galacta is estranged from Galactus. She remains on Earth, where she lives among humanity in disguise and does not feed on living beings. Instead, she sates her appetite by feeding off alien viruses left behind by the various invaders who come to Earth. 

Over time, though, Galacta notices her appetite increasing. She discovers she has a cosmic-powered parasite–what she believes to be a tapeworm–that is causing her to need to eat more, and reaches out to her father for help.

Galacta, Daughter of Galactus follows Gali as she tries to find a way to satisfy her ever-increasing appetite with unique solutions like grafting Wolverine’s healing factor onto a living planet (it doesn’t survive the process, sadly). 

What fans have always talked about, though, has been the story’s finale. As Galaca prepares to kill herself with a stolen Ultimate Nullifier, Galactus finally appears and bestows a portion of his own cosmic energy to his daughter before revealing she is, in fact, pregnant. 

And…that’s it. Galacta has not appeared in other media since that cliffhanger. She’s not canon to the 616 Marvel Universe, and her “official” Twitter account, @Gali_girl, has been dormant since 2009. Though her quirky nature and sudden cliffhanger made her a fan favorite, she’s been absent from comics for years. 

Why is Galacta, Daughter of Galactus in Marvel Rivals?

As of this writing, it’s not clear how Galacta will factor into Marvel Rivals. The trailer positions her at the very end overseeing the fighters, so it’s possible she could be in a sort of overseer role, and responsible for making the heroes fight. 

Marvel Rivals still has a ways to go before release, with a closed alpha scheduled for May 2024. Once players get their hands on the game, we may finally get a clearer idea as to how Galacta will factor into the story.