Marvel Makes Major Change to Galactus and Debuts New Herald

One of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, Galactus, just underwent a big change, or perhaps it could more accurately be referred to as a return to form, and he's taking an old friend back to their beginnings with him.

SPOILERS for Infinity Countdown #4 follow.

Infinity Countdown has been dealing with the many beings in the Marvel Comics universe who have been vying for the power of the Infinity Stones. One of those beings is Ultron, who is currently in space infecting aliens with the Ultron Virus. He sent some of these infected aliens to Earth to try to take the Space Stone from Wolverine, but his minions failed. However, Ultron was able to murder Magus and claim the Soul Stone.

Ultron then traveled to the planet Saiph and used the Ultron Virus combined with the power of the Soul Stone to transform every individual on the planet into an Ultron drone, effectively turning the planet itself into an Ultron planet. Silver Surfer discovered this and Ultron began trying to infect the cosmic traveler as well. Warlock arrived in time to save the Surfer, but not in time to stop Ultron from beginning to enact his plan to send rockets carrying the Ultron Virus to planets throughout the galaxy, infecting other peoples as well.

The Silver Surfer left Saiph, but he wasn't running away. The Surfer realized that Saiph needed to be destroyed in order to stop Ultron, and there was no one better suited for the task than Norrin Radd's old master, Galactus.

However, Galactus is no longer the devourer of worlds. Instead, he is the Lifebringer, having completed the transformation that was stunted previously, leaving him with his unquenchable hunger. Since then, Galactus has been trying to atone for his sins. When Surfer shows up asking him to devour another world, Galactus warns the Surfer that there will be a price to pay for such an act and that he will not be the only to pay it.

The Surfer returns to Saiph in time to destroy all of Ultron's rockets. Galactus is close behind and does what he previously did best, destroying Saiph and consuming its energies. Ultron manages to escape by grabbing hold of a piece of Saiph that is hurtling away through space.

Meanwhile, Galactus emerges from the rubble. Having tasted a planet, his hunger has returned and he is the world-devourer once again. To satiate his hunger, he will need a herald to seek out worlds for him. The Silver Surfer once again returns to that role.

After spending some time as heroes - the Silver Surfer for decades while the Galactus' time in that role was much shorter - Galactus and the Surfer have returned to the roles they played in their first appearances when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced them in the pages of Fantastic Four in the 1960s.

Infinity Countdown #4 is on sale now.