The Marvel Universe’s Newest Defender Is Galactus’ Mom
The Marvel Comics Universe has gained a new and most unlikely Defender in the Defenders Beyond series: Taaia, the Mother of Galactus!
Warning: contains spoilers for Defenders Beyond #5!There’s a new Defender in the Marvel Universe–Taaia, the mother of Galactus! Throughout Defenders Beyond, the team, including Taaia, has been on a whirlwind tour of the Marvel Universe, going farther than anyone else has before–all the way to the mysterious One Above All. The team meets him, and in the aftermath, Taaia embarks on a new and heroic path as Marvel’s newest Defender. The issue, the final of five, is on sale now in print and digital.
Taaia’s history stretches back before the modern Marvel Universe was created. In the Marvel Universe, creation works in cycles–one multiverse dies and another takes its place. Each cycle is called a “Cosmos” and each represents a certain facet of the Marvel Universe; for example, magic sprung from the Fifth and heroic archetypes from the Fourth. Taaia hails from the planet Taa in the Sixth Cosmos, a high-tech world where science reigns supreme; she is also the mother of Galen, who will survive the Sixth Cosmos to become Galactus in the Seventh. In The Defenders, Doctor Strange and his team traveled back to the Sixth Cosmos and met Taaia; she would go on to help the team in their quest. Now, a new team of Defenders, led by the Blue Marvel, are searching for the enemy of Eternity, embarking on an even bigger mind-bending odyssey through the Marvel Universe–and Taaia is once again fighting by their side.
The Defenders have found the One Above All–effectively the God of the Marvel Universe. As the Blue Marvel tries to probe the One’s mysteries, it asks what they want of it; Taaia replies she would like her son back. The One tells Taaia that Galen/Galactus is of his design and that she cannot return to the Sixth Cosmos with the knowledge of what he will become. The One apologizes to Taaia before moving on. After getting what they came for (albeit in a cryptic format) the team returns to our reality. Blue Marvel and Taaia are discussing what they have seen and what comes next. Blue Marvel reminds Taaia of what the One Above All told her; Taaia insists she must keep the knowledge, asking what kind of mother she would be to abandon her son and hide in the past. Taaia says she hopes to meet her son one day, but in the meantime, she will “work for this new cosmos…as its Defender!” The issue is written by Al Ewing, illustrated by Javier Rodriguez and lettered by Joe Caramagna.
Taaia, Galactus’s Mother, Will be a Great Hero in Defenders Beyond.
As Taaia hails from an earlier cycle of creation, she is very much a stranger in a strange land–but if her actions in the two Defenders books are any indication, then the Marvel Universe has gained an awesome new hero. Taaia served both teams with distinction, and the heroism she witnessed amongst her teammates no doubt factored into her decision to remain in the Eighth Cosmos as a hero. Being from an entirely different universe will give Taaia a unique perspective on the current universe–how will this impact her heroic career?
Regardless, the Defenders got a tantalizing glimpse of the horror to come, and Blue Marvel makes it clear that Doctor Strange’s spell, which summons the Defenders, is still in place–meaning the team’s return is inevitable. When the moment arrives, Taaia, the mother of Galactus will be fighting by their side as Marvel’s newest Defender.
Defenders Beyond #5 is on sale now from Marvel Comics!
