Face entrance, True Believers, as a result of the first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps has arrived. We now have our first have a look at Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Marvel’s First Family, in addition to robotic companion HERBIE and a greater sense of the retro-futurism-inspired artwork design. The trailer strikes the appropriate tone for this property and feels far totally different from most different MCU tasks. While we’re excited for every thing the film has in retailer when it arrives on July 25, 2025, the one character who (actually) stands above the remainder is Galactus, the devourer of worlds.
We solely get a glimpse of him within the trailer, however Galactus already seems to be to be far nearer to his comics self than the final try in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. Let’s check out why The Fantastic Four: First Steps appears poised to lastly do justice to this iconic Marvel character.
Who Is The Devourer of Worlds? Galactus Explained
In case you’re not aware of Galactus, let’s go over his historical past within the comics. Galactus is a cosmic entity within the Marvel mythos first created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #48. Galactus began his life as Galan, a mortal being and the one survivor of the earlier universe earlier than the Big Bang that created our personal. Galan survived by being merged with the sentience of his universe, recreating him as the primary being of the brand new one. Now known as Galactus, he turned an enormous determine who would roam the cosmos, needing to devour life-bearing planets with the intention to survive. Galactus would later tackle quite a lot of heralds who sought out planets for him, probably the most well-known of which is the Silver Surfer.
In the primary confrontation between Galactus and the Fantastic Four, the tremendous group was warned of Galactus’ arrival by the Watcher, who broke his oath of non-interference to attempt to save Earth from being consumed. The heroes battled the Silver Surfer, however did not cease him from signaling his grasp, who arrived shortly afterwards to eat the planet. Even although the FF managed to persuade the Surfer to show in opposition to Galactus, the Human Torch nonetheless needed to journey into Galactus’ worldship, Taa II, and retrieve the Ultimate Nullifier, one of many solely gadgets within the universe able to harming Galactus. When Mr. Fantastic threatened the devourer with it, Galactus swore to depart Earth in change for returning the Nullifier. Galactus then departed for area, however not earlier than sentencing the Silver Surfer to exile on the planet for his betrayal.
Galactus could be an necessary determine within the Marvel universe ever since, returning a number of extra instances to battle the Fantastic Four underneath numerous circumstances, and likewise having encounters with Thor, the place Galactus’ backstory was first revealed. He’s additionally probably not “evil” within the conventional sense, as a substitute being a morally ambiguous determine since he solely eats to outlive. But regardless of being considered one of Marvel’s coolest antagonists, he hasn’t been achieved justice on the large display. Yet.
The Second Coming of Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Although he’s made a number of appearances in cartoons and video video games, resembling within the ’90s Fantastic Four cartoon and Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Galactus has solely appeared in a single movie earlier than First Steps. That could be Tim Story’s 2007 entry Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and it wasn’t precisely one of the best outing for the devourer of worlds. Although the movie adopted the essential template of the shaggy dog story with the Surfer’s arrival beforehand resulting in Galactus coming to eat the planet (additionally they threw in Doctor Doom stealing the Surfer’s board, one thing that occurred a couple of points later within the supply materials), Galactus himself was a let-down, reimagined from his iconic comedian design with purple armor and an enormous helmet to a giant cloud with little to no distinguishing options. He additionally by no means spoke, and was seemingly killed by the Surfer with little or no effort. It definitely wasn’t what followers wished from Galactus’ first look on movie.
However, from what we’ve seen to date, Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps seems to be to be a critical course correction. The small have a look at him we bought within the trailer in addition to the tease from a drone gentle present eventually yr’s San Diego Comic-Con signifies that the brand new movie will probably be sticking near Jack Kirby’s traditional design for the character. The incontrovertible fact that Marvel Studios chosen Galactus for the villain of their Fantastic Four reboot within the first place can be an fascinating alternative. Even although there have been loads of FF baddies to select from (and we’d nonetheless see others… does anybody know who John Malkovich is taking part in?), Marvel selecting Galactus signifies that they know followers weren’t proud of twentieth Century Fox’s take and need to get him proper this time round. And since it seems that Robert Downey, Jr’s Doctor Doom is being reserved for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars (though we’re nonetheless hoping for a cameo in First Steps), Marvel can put all their deal with giving Galactus the MCU debut he deserves.
This is particularly necessary due to the MCU’s current struggles within the Multiverse Saga. Given what number of films they’ve made and villains they’ve burned by, Galactus is among the few remaining Marvel villains with sufficient of a pedigree to assist flip issues round for the franchise. A great Galactus adaptation may assist swing the MCU’s status round and generate additional pleasure for the subsequent two Avengers movies, which the Fantastic Four are set to be main figures in.
After all, a typical chorus from followers again when the Fantastic Four had been in exile as a result of Fox-Marvel feud over the movie rights was that they had been extra fascinated with seeing the FF’s rogues gallery, resembling Doctor Doom, Annihilus, and Galactus within the MCU than the First Family themselves. Now, hopefully we’re all again on the “the Fantastic Four are literally good” prepare (it is best to try Ryan North’s present run on the comics; it’s nice), however it’s true that Galactus and plenty of different characters related to the FF may very well be the key sauce the MCU must rejuvenate the model after they wrap up the Multiverse Saga.
Either manner, Galactus is among the finest characters related to the Fantastic Four, and it’s well past time we get to see him in all his glory in live-action. We’ll see how Marvel’s try at Galactus and the FF fares this July, however at the least going by this trailer, their first steps appear to be on the appropriate path.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You can comply with his fixations on Bluesky.
