‘The Fantastic Four’: Ralph Ineson To Play Galactus, John Malkovich Joins Too
Casting for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four reboot has been heating up for the past few weeks, with names like Julia Garner and Paul Walter Hauser leaking into the press, but today, the trades brought out the big guns.
First, Deadline reported that John Malkovich will be appearing in the film, though details on his character remain under wraps. Just a few hours later, The Hollywood Reporter said “Hold my beer” and broke the news that Ralph Ineson (The Witch, The First Omen) is Marvel’s choice to play Galactus, the planet eater who will be the main antagonist to the story. Plot details remain undisclosed. Ineson later confirmed the story on social media.
Galactus’ casting remained the biggest unknown in the Fantastic Four cast (aside from the almost-certain Dr. Doom post-credits appearance). Javier Bardem was rumored to be Marvel’s top choice for a long time and engaged in conversations with them regarding the planet-eater role. But whether it was because of money (Marvel’s budget constraints as of late cost them Adam Driver and Emma Stone playing Reed Richards and Sue Storm, according to reporter Jeff Sneider) or because of scheduling around his Formula One shoot, which is supposed to take up most of the year, Bardem had to bow out of the race.
Whether Ineson was their next choice, or they burned through other names first, we don’t know, but what matters now is that he is the chosen one. Ineson has been a character actor for many years and appeared in many franchises, including Guardians of the Galaxy, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and the last Harry Potter movies. He also appeared in the Robert Eggers movies The Witch and The Northman, and will be seen in this year’s Nosferatu.
Fantastic Four is gearing up for a summer shoot in London and is currently targeting a July 25, 2025, release date. Though this is the date Disney is currently advertising, we should put an asterisk beside it, just like they did on Thunderbolts. The month of July 2025 is pretty busy right now, with new Jurassic World and Superman movies coming out, and Marvel is putting a lot of eggs in the Fantastic Four basket, so they might consider moving into November to maximize their success chances.
Matt Shakman is directing from a script by Josh Friedman (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes) and polishes by Eric Pearson (Black Widow). Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer wrote a previous draft. The main cast includes Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm).
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
