“The Fantastic Four” Casts Ralph Ineson as Supervillain Galactus
One of the great character actors of his generation, with one of the truly great voices in all of cinema, is joining the MCU.
Ralph Ineson has joined the cast of director Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four as the supervillain Galactus, one of the major baddies in the canon. Ineson’s career has spanned major franchises and beloved indies, including the Harry Potter films, The Witch, and The Green Knight. Now, he’ll play the villain in one of Marvel’s most eagerly anticipated upcoming films.
Ineson joins Pedro Pascal as scientist Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as her brother Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Recent additions to the cast are Julia Garner as a female Silver Surfer and Paul Walter Hauser and John Malkovich in undisclosed roles.
Galactus, as his name suggests, is a cosmic force within the Marvel canon, a planet-eating intergalactic being whose powers are beyond most MCU villains we’ve seen. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the wizards behind the Fantastic Four and so many other now iconic characters.
Shakman is helping the studio reboot the Fantastic Four now that Marvel’s first family is part of the Disney family after the 2019 acquisition of 21st Century Fox 2019. Marvel’s new-look Four will almost certainly be a big departure from the three films Fox produced—Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and a reboot, Fantastic Four (2015). Galactus appeared in The Rise of the Silver Surfer as a computer-generated cloud—it was not well received.
Shakman’s already done marvelous work within the MCU with their first Disney+ series, WandaVision. Here, he directs from a script by Black Widow and Thor: Ragnarok scribe Eric Pearson.
Marvel gave us a hint about the direction Shakman and Pearson are taking the reboot when they released this illustration:
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Plenty of clues are embedded in the illustration, like the Life Magazine that Ben Grimm is reading from December 1963. So, the new Fantastic Four looks like it will be set, at least partially, in the 1960s. It’s worth noting that Shakman is comfortable with the time period, as part of WandaVision was set in the 60s and looked period-perfect.
If The Fantastic Four is indeed set in the 1960s, that means it’ll exist apart from what’s going on right now in the major MCU timelines, possibly in a parallel world, considering we haven’t heard about them in any of the MCU films (you think someone like Nick Fury would have mentioned them by now), save for a brief moment in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness when John Krasinski appeared as his world’s Rex Reed (it didn’t end well for him, thanks to a very pissed off Wanda Maximoff.) This will offer Marvel and Shakman something of a blank canvas before the super quartet eventually connects to the larger MCU timeline, likely in 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars.
The Fantastic Four is slated to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
For more on The Fantastic Four, check out these stories:
“Fantastic Four” Cast Adds Paul Walter Hauser
Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” Casts Julia Garner as Silver Surfer
Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” in Full Swing With a Director & Writers On Board
Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” Eyeing Pedro Pascal to Play Mr. Fantastic
Featured image: LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 17: Ralph Ineson attends “The Tragedy Of Macbeth” European Premiere during the 65th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 17, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for BFI)
For more on The Fantastic Four, check out these stories:
Marvel’s “Fantastic Four” Eyeing Pedro Pascal to Play Mr. Fantastic
