Though we caught a quick glimpse of Galactus in the leaked teaser that did the rounds last year, yesterday's trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps gave us our first official look at the gargantuan Marvel Comics villain.
Granted, we only saw the character's distinctive helmet from the back as he advanced on this universe's Statue of Liberty, but it was enough of a tease to get fans of the Devourer of Worlds hyped to see more.
Shortly after the trailer dropped, Ralph Ineson - who will play (through mo-cap, presumably) and voice Galactus in First Steps - took to social media to respond with some Rolling Stones lyrics that must surely also reference the villain's previous big-screen appearance in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
In the 2007 20th Century Fox movie, Galactus was depicted as a cloud of vapours and electricity moving through space. It remains one of the most ridiculed takes on any comic book character to this day.
Ineson was a somewhat surprising choice to play Galactus given some of the big names that were up for the role, and previously admitted that he didn't expect such an outpouring of support from the fanbase when his casting was announced.
“It was really humbling. When they announced that, I was like ‘how is that going to go down?’ because there were a lot of big names that had been attached. I was expecting people to go, ‘sorry, who?’ It was lovely and very heart-warming. It gave me a lot of confidence going into the job, to be honest, knowing that it seems there’s a large portion of fans that like the idea of me doing it.”
The Fantastic Four reboot stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
Galactus has been confirmed as the main villain, and the Eater of Worlds will be played by Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones). Julia Garner (Ozark, Wolf Man) will play Silver Surfer. Natasha Lyonne, John Malkovich and Paul Walter Houser are also on board in undisclosed roles.
Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the movie will take place in an alternate universe, but we know that Marvel's First Family will appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, so we wouldn't be surprised if they find their way into the main MCU timeline by the end of this movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
Matt Shakman directs The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.