The Fantastic Four: First Steps is right around the corner, and fans are excited to see the First Family of comics join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film also serves as a redemption for both Galactus and The Silver Surfer, following their last big-screen appearance, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which disappointed fans and critics, as it depicted the devourer of worlds as a cloud. Yet, some are disappointed that Marvel Studios is using a character as powerful as Galactus in a Fantastic Four film and are frustrated that he’s being introduced immediately, rather than being built up over multiple films.
Although he made his debut in the pages of Fantastic Four comics and quickly became one of the team’s most iconic foes, Galactus’s status as a planet-eater who threatens entire worlds makes him an Avengers-level threat, one that could unite a universe in the same manner that Thanos did in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. But despite the seeming surface-level comparisons to Thanos, Galactus was never meant to be a larger villain in a master plot. If Marvel Studios had made Galactus the overarching villain of a phase or saga, that would have been a mishandling of the character. Marvel Studios made the right decision by introducing Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps as the main villain of that film, and not the new big bad of an entire phase.
Galactus and Thanos Serve Two Different Purposes
Thanos became the MCU’s overarching villain by accident. Joss Whedon included the character at the end of The Avengers as a fun reference that Marvel later built up. Yet Thanos worked as a larger villain for what would become The Infinity Saga since the comic he is most famous for, Infinity Gauntlet, was a Marvel Comics event that united various corners of the Marvel Universe. He is a villain with an evil plan, one that is well-suited for superheroes to fight and serves as the ultimate villain in a feature film saga. Galactus is not that.
“The Galactus Trilogy” plays out in Fantastic Four #48 to 50 and is centered on The Fantastic Four dealing with this world-ending threat. No other Marvel hero appears in the initial story. Since then, other comic retellings have reimagined Galactus’ arrival on Earth as a universe-uniting event, be it the Ultimate Galactus Trilogy storyline, which united The Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Ultimates together. Bullet Points showcased the world’s heroes and villains as they stopped Galactus in an alternate reality where The Fantastic Four didn’t exist, and the critically acclaimed Marvels depicted the events from the everyday person’s perspective. This is Galactus’s most famous storyline, but at its heart, it has always been a Fantastic Four storyline as opposed to Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet, which is a Marvel Universe story.
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The Infinity Gauntlet storyline should be built up over multiple films, as the story revolves around six different McGuffins that can be incorporated into other stories, making it perfect for the Infinity Saga, which provides connections between different franchises. Additionally, Infinity Gauntlet even had its lead-in comic, The Thanos Quest. “The Galactus Trilogy” is three issues, with the first half of #48 and the last half of #50 having nothing to do with Galactus at all. It is a one-and-done story, not a significant seismic event that one builds a phase around. It is a story that translates better as a single film.
The Fantastic Four Needs Galactus, The Avengers Don’t
The Fantastic Four is the comic that birthed the Marvel Universe. Not only did their success lead to the creation of iconic heroes like The Hulk, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, but in the pages of The Fantastic Four, writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby introduced many key characters that would become pillars of the Marvel Universe.
Doctor Doom, Black Panther, The Skrulls, the Kree, the Watchers, the Inhumans, Adam Warlock, Rama-Tut (who would later become Kang the Conqueror), and a reintroduced Namor all sprang from the pages of The Fantastic Four, earning it the title “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.” The MCU has mined every one of these elements and spread them across other properties, where even the upcoming Avengers movie will center around The Fantastic Four’s archenemy, Doctor Doom. Should The Fantastic Four also give up a foe like Galactus to bolster the Avengers?
Featuring Galactus gives The Fantastic Four: First Steps both a chance to make up for Rise of the Silver Surfer, but also provides the film with a big hook for the audience. Next to Doctor Doom, Galactus is the most famous threat the team has ever faced. For all their greatness, characters like Red Ghost and Puppet Master aren’t big names that will draw audiences to the theaters. The Fantastic Four needs that marquee villain and stakes to get the audience’s interest, and Galactus fits that bill.
Galactus Is a Villain Better Suited for The Fantastic Four’s Strengths
Galactus is often cited as one of The Fantastic Four’s greatest villains. Yet the truth is, he isn’t quite a villain. His actions are beyond good and evil. He does not destroy planets out of malice, but to survive. He serves a cosmic purpose, but one that comes at the cost of billions of lives. Unlike Thanos, who presented himself as a complex villain but used flawed logic to justify his evil actions, Galactus is a being of nature. He isn’t so much a threat that one can fight, and stories involving him are more akin to disaster movies than traditional superhero movies, which makes him the perfect threat for The Fantastic Four, a team of scientists and explorers. As writer Ryan North mentioned in the fanpage for Fantastic Four #1 from 2025, citing a member of The Fantastic Four: First Steps art department who said:
“What I love about The Fantastic Four is simple: They’re the ones who bring a slide rule and the scientific method to a gun fight.”
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While The Fantastic Four: First Steps shows plenty of scenes where The Fantastic Four will engage Galactus directly in combat, defeating him will likely require some clever maneuvering as opposed to beating him into submission. Sure, the Avengers have plenty of intelligent heroes on their side, but none of them match Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic, the smartest man alive. Had the MCU decided to make Galactus an Avengers villain, it would have to be a different type of movie for the team, one that would probably require less punching if it wanted to stay true to the spirit of the comics.
Keeping Galactus (and the Silver Surfer) in The Fantastic Four franchise as the threat of their MCU introduction also helps reeducate an audience on The Fantastic Four. Thanks to a combination of disappointing films, audiences have a relatively low opinion of the team. This perception was not helped during the 2010s, when Marvel downplayed The Fantastic Four and even canceled their comic. Meanwhile, The Avengers’ status was bolstered from an oddball collection of characters, which were elevated to Marvel’s answer to the Justice League. This made The Avengers out to be the team that could handle the most significant threats… but for years, that was The Fantastic Four.
In Avengers: Earth Mightiest Heroes, Johnny Storm shrugs off The Avengers’ accomplishment by saying, “The Fantastic Four saved the world this morning, before breakfast,” which is an accurate depiction of how the team was often depicted for years. Pitting The Fantastic Four against a foe as mighty as Galactus in their first film will establish the team to the general audience as being just as powerful as The Avengers and worthy of being the new leads of the MCU.
Can Move Beyond Telling the Same Galactus Story
Part of the desire to have Galactus be “the big bad” of a phase or saga from Marvel is due to the legendary status of “The Galactus Trilogy” and its placement as one of the greatest comics of all time. While an iconic storyline, it is not the only Galactus story, and some of the most interesting elements come after his initial arrival on Earth. Galactus features more heralds outside the Silver Surfer, ones that could be threats across the rich Marvel cosmos in future stories.
The MCU could produce a cosmic court case film, adapting the “Trial of Reed Richards,” where millions of aliens put Mr. Fantastic on trial for saving Galactus, only to learn he is an unfortunate yet necessary part of the cosmos. Galactus also becomes a reluctant ally to The Fantastic Four, including sharing a special bond with Franklin Richards, who will take his place following the end of the universe and will make sure Galactus is not alone in the end, giving him an odd relationship with his former enemies. This is all rich material that can only come after his first encounter with the heroes of the Marvel Universe.
Instead of wasting time and needlessly building up to another adaptation of “The Galactus Trilogy” over multiple films to feature more Marvel heroes, they are wisely using one full-length feature film. Once it is concluded, they can move on to other stories for both The Fantastic Four and Galactus. Galactus can still be an active presence in the MCU following The Fantastic Four: First Steps, particularly with rumors that Avengers: Secret Wars will do a slight reboot and combine some realities. Marvel Studios wisely realized Galactus is a great show-stopping feature film villain as opposed to a franchise-wide big bad like Thanos. Now, was Kang the right choice for that role? Is Doctor Doom a better replacement? Well, that’s another story. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters on July 25.
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