'Fantastic Four' first look: Meet the 'complicated' foes for Marvel's heroes

USA Today

6 days ago

In Marvel Comics lore, Galactus is one of the biggest – literally – supervillains in the galaxy, a being that devours entire worlds.
Now, Ralph Ineson will be the first to allow that his ginormous character in 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' (in theaters July 25) seems like a pretty bad guy, especially to the residents of Earth, where he's feasting next. 'But I would say he is not evil because he's just pursuing what he does,' says the British actor. 'There's no kind of actual human malice.'
Set in the retrofuturistic 1960s, 'Fantastic Four' introduces four Marvel heroes: stretchy Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), invisible woman Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), human torch Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and rock monster Ben Grimm, aka the Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). The movie also debuts new foes including Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) and Shalla-Bal (Julia Garner), the Silver Surfer and herald of Galactus.
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This 'complicated' trio exemplifies 'the best kind of villains,' says 'First Steps' director Matt Shakman, 'the ones that you can understand and you can relate to.'
Here's an exclusive peek at the Fantastic Four antagonists of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in order of increasing existential threat:
Paul Walter Hauser digs Mole Man, the Fantastic Four's first foe
The Mole Man was the first bad guy faced by the Fantastic Four in the debut issue of their 1961 comic book, a nuclear engineer who led a race of subterranean creatures and monsters. The MCU version of Harvey Elder is 'really more of a union boss than a supervillain,' Shakman says.
Hauser notes the comic version is 'vicious and heinous and unrelenting,' while his character is aligned with humanity. 'He is living sort of in the shadows like a villain would, but he's also taking care of an entire race of people and trying to live his life without being bothered.'
And his opposition to the Fantastic Four is political in nature, Hauser teases. 'It's a power struggle, but within that, there are compromises and alliances made.' Adds Shakman: 'He's all about community, and that's why Sue and Harvey have a good relationship and they get along. They understand each other.'
Julia Garner's Silver Surfer brings doom to Earth
The Silver Surfer arrives on her super-cool surfboard with a bleak message for the Fantastic Four and the rest of Earth: She heralds the coming of Galactus after finding the planets that make up his next meal. Yet while the delivery seems chilly, there's some serious emotion going on under her shiny facade.
'This is someone who's sacrificed a lot in order to save something in their past, and that is noble. So it's kind of a classic anti-hero character,' Shakman says, adding that her backstory connects with the movie's themes of family.
'She carries a lot of guilt for what she's done,' Shakman says. "There's part of her speech that she's been told to deliver, which is 'Your planet is marked for death.' And then there's her own addition to it, where she says, 'Hold your loved ones close. Speak the words you've been afraid to speak.' Part of it is what she chooses to share because of her empathy, and part of it is what she has to do for her job.'
Ralph Ineson's Galactus has a gigantic appetite for destruction
There's good reason why we haven't seen Galactus in his full glory yet. Trailers have shown his boots or the back of his helmeted head, and even here folks can just see his massive chest. 'It's a big moment when the Fantastic Four get to see him for the first time,' Shakman says, 'and I'd love for that to be the same for the audience.' Ineson agrees the buildup is exciting, but 'slightly terrifying from my end.'
While Garner played the Surfer via motion capture, Ineson wore a helmet and full suit of armor to play the kaiju-sized Galactus, even needing his own pit crew to keep him cool between takes. Ineson would venture to the top of tall buildings and try to capture the day-to-day perspective of 'a 14 billion-year-old cosmic vampire.'
Galactus is 'an essential force of the universe,' who helps keep the balance of the cosmos, Ineson says. 'Whatever is crawling around on the planet that he's going to devour, it's of no real consequence to him unless there is something he wants.' And therein lies the rub in the new movie: Galactus wants Reed and Sue's newborn baby.
'He's willing to bargain,' Shakman says. 'He did it with Shalla-Bal and he's going to attempt to do it with the Fantastic Four.'