THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS BTS Photos Reveal Galactus' Worldship Set And Practical Silver Surfer Costume

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS BTS Photos Reveal Galactus' Worldship Set And Practical Silver Surfer Costume

New photos from The Fantastic Four: First Steps reveal that Marvel Studios built a practical version of Galactus' Worldship. It seems Julia Garner donned a real Silver Surfer suit for some scenes, too...

By JoshWilding - Sep 10, 2025 06:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps wasn't Marvel Studios' biggest commercial hit, but it received rave reviews and felt like a step in the right direction for the MCU after a hit-and-miss Multiverse Saga. 

A big part of that was the huge practical sets. Filmmaker Matt Shakman oversaw the construction of Earth 828's Times Square and Yancy Street, and photos of The Fantastic Four: First Steps cinematographer Jess Hall's work on the reboot confirm that some of those cosmic sets were also the real deal.

That includes Galactus' massive Worldship, surroundings you'd have been forgiven for assuming were an entirely CG creation. Perhaps Marvel Studios learned its lesson after relying so heavily on The Volume in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania

We also see that Joseph Quinn took flight as the Human Torch for that conversation with the Silver Surfer. Julia Garner, meanwhile, seemingly donned a Shalla-Bal costume, likely so Hall and the movie's VFX artists could correctly light the shiny character to help with post-production. 

"She was terrifying as Shalla-Bal," Shakman recently said of Garner. "But beneath the heralding of doom, there was an empathy and humanity, and you could see that transition happening in her performance as she looked down at the people below shivering in terror. That really paved the way for the rest of the movie."

Garner added, "There’s a quite complex and tragic story with her. A lot of suppressed emotion. So I wrote things down that bothered her, especially earlier in her life. And then I suppressed them again."

You can check out these new photos from the set of The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the Instagram gallery below. 

In our review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, we concluded, "The Fantastic Four is an exceptional introduction to the MCU’s First Family, and thanks to a Jack Kirby-infused feel that’s unlike anything we’ve seen before, it proves to be a quintessential superhero movie with Marvel Studios at its brilliant best.

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.

Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.

The movie is now playing in theaters.

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SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 9/10/2025, 6:58 AM
$500m global smash hit

Superman $600m global smash hit
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 9/10/2025, 7:31 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - I wouldn't say smash, but it's decent.
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 9/10/2025, 7:33 AM
@TheShellyMan - i was being facetious
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 9/10/2025, 7:41 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - User Comment Image
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 9/10/2025, 7:54 AM
@SteviesRightFoo - Gotcha. 😅
AllsGood
AllsGood - 9/10/2025, 8:18 AM
@TheFinestSmack - If you didn't know meet my Two All-time Favorite Marvel Comics Superheros 1) Hulk and 2 close second Spider-Man

User Comment Image
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 9/10/2025, 8:59 AM
@AllsGood - User Comment Image
I am hype for that movie though. Keeping it street level is all they needed to do to get me interested. Punisher and Hulk are just bonus for me.
OrgasmicPotatoe
OrgasmicPotatoe - 9/10/2025, 7:25 AM
...right, but when *I* reveal my practical Silver Surfer costume, it's automatically 'sir, this is a McDonald's !' this and 'we're calling the police !' that !

Double standards, i'll tell yall !
AllsGood
AllsGood - 9/10/2025, 7:47 AM
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Takes Down Tom Hanks' 100% RT Disney Sequel at the Global Box Office.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has climbed higher in Disney's global ranks, officially overtaking one of the House of Mouse's highest-rated projects ever.

Considered one of the best animated movies of all time, Toy Story 2 returned a vast $511 million back in 1999, which, adjusted for inflation, would now sit at $542 million.

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Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 9/10/2025, 8:43 AM
@AllsGood - DoubleD comparing a 26 year old movie's box office to one released this year, when a ticket cost $5.08 in '99 as opposed to $11.31 today.

Never change, man. 🤣
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 9/10/2025, 9:02 AM
@AllsGood - Apparently $511 million in 1999 would really be equal to $988.63 million today. That's a huge difference.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/10/2025, 7:51 AM
Cool , Galactus’s ship set was impressive in terms of scale & design so to see that they built some of it and mixed it with VFX makes me happy since I feel that is the way to go rather then full CG.

In regards to Julia Garner as Shalla Bal/Silver Surfer , she did great playing this seemingly emotionless & cold character on the surface who has this undercurrent of guilt , humanity & empathy that comes out here and there until eventually it becomes too much…

While she didn’t have alot of screentime in the film , her arc still felt effective due to Garner’s subtle performance even with the limited material she had so kudos to her!!.

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