The Fantastic Four: First Steps Trailer Offers A Glimpse of Galactus

Share

Published June 30, 2025 by Travis Johnson

The good news is, he’s not a cloud.

There was a time when studios were a bit gun shy about making comic book movies that were, well, too comic booky. That’s why the X-Men debuted in black leather back in 2000 – they even made a joke about it in the movie. It’s also why when the planet-devouring Galactus made his big screen debut in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, he was a big, weird cloud of spacefaring AI. Sure, that’s technically accurate to a comic, but when we think “Galactus” we think “Big purple and blue guy with a funny helmet”. And that’s what we’re getting in Marvel‘s latest FF reboot.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps Final Trailer

What’s the plot?

In a retro-futuristic ’60s-flavoured world (whether it’s actually set in the ’60s seems a bit hazy, as does how the setting connects to the larger MCU) heroic scientists and explorers The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from perpetually hungry ancient alien Galactus, who intends to devour the planet. And that’s pretty much it. This one’s coming to us from director Matt Shakman (WandaVision), working from a script by Josh Friedman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) and Eric Pearson (Transformers One).

Who’s in it?

Pedro Pascal as stretchy super-scientist Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic.
Vanessa Kirby as the self-explanatory Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, his loving wife.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, aka the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing.
Joseph Quinn as perpetual fire hazard Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.
Ralph Ineson as the planet-devouring alien Galactus. Apparently Ineson spent some time “ruminating at the top of tall buildings” to prepare for the role, which delights me to no end.
Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, the Silver Surfer – Galactus’ shiny herald.

Paul Walter Hauser and John Malkovich are in there too, along with Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne, in roles that have yet to be revealed.

When’s it out?

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits Australian cinemas on July 24, 2025.

What’s the vibe?

I’m pretty happy with what we’ve seen so far. The whole retro-60s thing rips, the cast is top notch, the optimism and sense of hope is palpable. My only real concern is how much pipe they have to lay to connect things up with the larger franchise, but that’s always an issue with this sort of thing.