One MCU Villain’s Maximum Power Makes Galactus Look Pathetic

Ulysses Klaue mostly served as a secondary antagonist and comic relief in the MCU, but in the Marvel Comics he briefly ascended to godhood.

The MCU has rarely shied away from delving into deeper cuts in Marvel lore, introducing members of Black Panther‘s criminally underrated rogues’ gallery like Killmonger, M’Baku and the villainous Klaw to a wider audience. While the power levels of the MCU’s Ulysses Klaue remained relatively grounded, his comic book counterpart is a being of incredible power. For a brief moment in 1984, this power was amplified beyond that of such beings as Galactus to the god-like.

Ulysses Klaue (played by Andy Serkis) was first introduced into the MCU with Avengers: Age of Ultron as a South African arms dealer in possession of the invaluable metal, vibranium. Decidedly human, he would ultimately have his arm severed by an enraged Ultron. Klaue would re-emerge to face off with his long-time comic book rival in Black Panther, his lost hand replaced with a high-tech, vibranium-powered sonic gun. However, it would take little more than a bullet to the head, courtesy of Klaue’s former partner Killmonger, for one of T’Challa’s greatest foes in the history of Marvel Comics to meet his demise. While his sonic blaster hand would nod towards the power of his comic book equivalent, it would only be a fraction of what Klaw has wielded in the pages of Marvel.

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Klaw of Marvel Comics is a different beast from his MCU portrayal. The “Master of Sound” originally debuted in 1966’s Fantastic Four #53 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, with the issue establishing Klaw and T’Challa’s history together. This early encounter with the Black Panther takes a turn, with Ulysses flinging himself into a massive sonic converter of his own design in a desperate gamble to gain the power to defeat Black Panther and the Fantastic Four. The gamble pays off, turning Klaue into a being of living sound. While still focusing his sonic blasts through his “sonic gun” hand, Klaw becomes much more: his new state of being frees him from most of humanity’s biological constraints, rendering him virtually immortal. He also gains a peculiar power: the ability to generate animal-like, semi-autonomous constructs made of sound.

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In Secret Wars #12 by Jim Shooter and Mike Zeck, the already powerful Klaw receives a massive upgrade. Doctor Doom imbues him with a fraction of the Beyonder’s power, enough to “blacken ten thousand suns.” Klaw then faces off against the combined might of the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four, unleashing an army of monsters that appear to be an unholy amalgam of Dr. Seuss and H.P. Lovecraft. Klaw’s disturbing monstrosities nearly overwhelm the union of Marvel’s mightiest heroes, their survival only granted by an unforeseen consequence of Klaw’s brush with godhood: the Beyonder manifests and possesses Klaw, allowing Captain America to slip through Klaw’s defenses and defeat Doctor Doom.

While the MCU’s Klaue was a welcome addition to the film franchise, he’s based only on the absolute earliest of his comic book history. Klaw of Marvel Comics is a being of nearly incomprehensible power, and for a brief moment, Black Panther‘s arch-nemesis was among the most powerful entities Marvel’s heroes ever faced.

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