We recently got a first look at Galactus unmasked via some scans from The Fantastic Four: First Steps – The Art of the Movie book, and concept artist Ryan Meinerding has now taken to social media to share an official look at his designs for the Devourer of Worlds without his distinctive helmet.
We never saw Galactus without his helmet in First Steps, but Meinerding says, "we explored options from the comics where you could see his whole face."
The incredibly powerful villain's comic-accurate look was pretty much universally embraced by fans (even those who didn't care for the movie), so leaving the helmet - and the character's mystique - in place was probably a smart move.
Invisible Woman - with some help from the Silver Surfer - managed to defeat Galactus by forcing him through a portal to an alternate universe at the end of First Steps, but we can't imagine that's the last we'll see of this character in the MCU.
Check out the artwork at the links below.
Despite the perception that the latest big-screen outing for Marvel's First Family underperformed, the movie did manage to pass the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office. Not an outstanding showing, but far from a disaster in the current climate.
Will we get a sequel? The team is set to return for Avengers: Doomsday, and rumor has it that director Matt Shakman has had discussions about taking the helm of another movie. Apparently, the studio is confident that general audiences will respond more positively to the characters after becoming more familiar with them in the next MCU event film.
First Steps also 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, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.
"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."