Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has long wanted to get his hands on Galactus. When 20th Century Fox was close to losing the rights to Daredevil, the executive offered them the chance to keep the Man Without Fear in exchange for the Eater of Worlds and Silver Surfer.
Fox declined, Daredevil was handed off to Marvel Television and Netflix, and we'll never know what the Infinity Saga might have looked like with Galactus and his Herald put front and centre (minus the Fantastic Four).
New promo art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been revealed today, including a much higher quality look at Ralph Ineson's Galactus. We saw a blurry version of that piece a few weeks ago, but this clearer effort is a welcome sight.
There are also several new pieces depicting Marvel's First Family; some are stylised in a way that fits in with the reboot's 1960s aesthetic, while others reveal what they'll look like in the MCU. However, we're not sure The Thing will be quite that imposing based on the trailers.
Commenting on his MCU debut as Galactus, Ineson previously said, "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," the actor added while addressing the "humbling" response from fans. "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."
It should be quite something to hear Ineson's unmistakable voice come booming from Galactus, and Marvel Studios has chosen well by casting the Game of Thrones and Nosferatu star.
You can see this new promo art for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the X posts below.
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.
Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne have been cast in mystery roles. Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is rumoured to appear, though that's surely a given with Avengers: Doomsday on the way.
Director Matt Shakman worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on The Fantastic Four: First Steps' screenplay, with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) later coming on board for a final polish.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.