The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just months away from hitting the big screen and Marvel fans are already super excited about the film. The film will feature Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing.
Fans also learned that Galactus will be the main antagonist for the Marvel family in this film. The cosmic villain was earlier introduced in Fox’s Fantastic Four film and was criticized for being portrayed as a ‘cloud’. While fans have little idea about the magnitude of the villain, Ralph Ineson is confirmed to play the role in the film.
Emmy-nominated director Matt Shakman of WandaVision fame will direct the film. The script of this Marvel film is written by Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer. Besides the four leading stars and Ineson, the film has confirmed actors like Julia Garner, Paul Walter Houser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles.
Who is Galactus in the Marvel Comics?
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby designed Galactus as a cosmic giant villain who was just beyond any human imagination. He is unlike other cosmic villains and has nuances to his motives in the comics. Galactus consumes worlds to retain his life force and is not a villain with an evil plan.
Galactus was once an ordinary being called Galan, but his planet Taa was almost wiped out by a plague. On a suicide mission, Galan along with his planet plunges into a star. The radiation of the star provides him with Celestial-level powers.
He manipulates energy, time, and space and serves as a needed balance against the Celestials. As fans got to see in Eternals, the Celestials also did not have the best interest of human life in their plans. Galactus is often accompanied by a herald who helps execute his plans, like the Silver Surfer. In the comics, Galactus has appeared both as an antagonist and a protagonist.
The comic depiction of the character is a towering man wearing a vertiginous helmet with two antennae. MCU fans believe that Galactus’ role will go beyond the scope of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It is expected that he will have a larger role in the upcoming Avengers films, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.
According to the comics, the only weapon that could stop Galactus is the Ultimate Nullifier, which is also used to eliminate an entire multiverse. This weapon alone hints at a larger role for the villain in Marvel’s Multiverse Saga finale.
Ralph Ineson is playing Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
British actor Ralph Ineson, who appeared in some critically acclaimed roles over the years, will be MCU’s Galactus. Ineson first gained popularity by playing the father of Anya Taylor-Joy’s character in Robert Eggers’ The Witch. He was also seen in Eggers’ Nosferatu recently. Ineson is no stranger to major franchises, having played roles in Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Kingsman.
He played a brief role in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014. The trailer of the film featured several shots and Galactus is portrayed to be this huge figure towering over Manhattan. While fans argue that this version of the villain is considerably smaller than the comic-accurate version, fans already wonder how Ineson would look in the role.
At the San Diego Comic-Con 2024 panel, a comic-accurate glimpse of Galactus was also provided, where Ineson’s character was shown to be approaching the Baxter building (via ComicBook.com). This shot was missing from the first trailer of the film.
5 reasons why Galactus is the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe
Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, defies the normal definition of an evil-doer in the comics. In that sense, he is different from all other villains that the Marvel heroes have encountered. Instead of pursuing malicious ends, the cosmic villain is just compelled to consume the world to satisfy his hunger. Here are five things that make him the most powerful being:
1 Galactus is the sole survivor of a collapsed universe
Fans have already learned of the noble end attempted by Galan and his crew of Planet Taa, who flew into a cosmic phenomenon. Galan emerged as the only survivor of this phenomenon, which ended the previous universe as Galan knew it. Moreover, Galan’s collision with the star gave him the sentient energy of his universe.
His need to devour the world comes from the need to feed this dying universe. Since he is from a cosmos that precedes the current Marvel Universe (or Multiverse), he has a perspective and power that transcends the limitations of the current universe. He is essentially the bridge between the old and new universes, making him not only a powerful entity but also a knowledgeable one.
2 Galactus is the wielder of the Power Cosmic
As mentioned earlier, Galactus has the power to manipulate time, energy, and space, which is a result of his wielding the Power Cosmic. He gets this power from the star that he collided with. This power enables him to restructure molecules, teleport, and even create force fields. He can even share his Power Cosmic with his heralds, making them into supervillains themselves.
Galactus can thus manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe. The Power Cosmic alone puts him at the top of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe. It directly relates to his other powers, that make him an invincible being.
3 Galactus controls heralds like the Silver Surfer
Julia Garner plays Shalla-Bal, aka Silver Surfer, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Fans assume that she would carry out the dirty deeds of Ralph Ineson’s Galactus in this film. Galactus imbues his heralds with a fraction of his power. The power of the heralds alone shows how powerful their master entity is.
The heralds, including the most popular one Norrin Radd of Zenn-La, aka the Silver Surfer, possess enhanced powers. They have superhuman strength, energy manipulation, and faster-than-light travel. The job of these heralds is usually to scour for planets suitable for Galactus to devour.
They are often forced to do this deed for the cosmic villain. For example, Norrin Radd agreed to be Galactus’ herald in order to save his home planet. His lover, Shalla-Bal, also agrees to become Galactus’ herald, thus separating from Norrin for eternity.
2 Galactus maintains cosmic balance
Galactus embodies the ultimate form of ‘For the greater good.’ His greater cosmic purpose is to maintain the balance, especially between the universal entities of Eternity and Death. This role of the Galactus becomes crucial in the movies that come after The Fantastic Four. Marvel has already introduced Eternity in Thor: Love and Thunder and Death in Agatha All Along.
The role almost makes him a necessary force in the universe to maintain cosmic order. In Marvel Comics, this exact trait makes him much more than an antagonist. He is a fundamental component of the cosmic structure. Interestingly, the comics used the character’s actions to traverse along the themes of genocide, manifest destiny, ethics, and natural/necessary existence.
1 Galactus is the Devourer of Worlds
Galactus is the Devourer of Worlds, which is the only thing fans need to worry about before stepping into The Fantastic Four: First Steps. A popular theory suggests that Galactus will devour the Fantastic Four’s original universe, set in a retrofuturistic 1960s in an alternate world.
Reed Richards and his team would probably survive the ordeal and end up in a different reality, probably in Earth-616’s current timeline. Galactus needs to feed himself to sustain his immense power.
According to the comics, he would drain a planet’s biosphere, which could be what fans see in the trailer of the film in the scene with the explosion in the sky. His need to feed on planets is massive, and he can easily reach any world, which makes him a universal threat in the film.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.
