Why Galactus Didn't Show Up In The 2015 Fantastic Four Flop

Every 10 years or so since 1994, there's been a new attempt at a "Fantastic Four" movie (though, technically, the 1994 "Fantastic Four" never even got released.) Now, we're about to see if Marvel Studios' "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" can buck history and prove the fourth onscreen version can finally succeed.

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is set in a retro 1960s-style world, one that's being targeted by the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus (Ralph Ineson). The last time Galactus appeared in a movie was 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," the second and final film featuring that version of the Four. The movie's poor reception was in part due to its portrayal of Galactus as an intangible cloud rather than a lumbering titan in purple armor. Galactus in "First Steps" instead looks right out of the comics and, per Ineson, will be characterized more like a god than a twisted giant man (just as Jack Kirby intended).

The two most famous "Fantastic Four" villains are definitely the masked Doctor Victor von Doom and Galactus. The "Fantastic Four" movies have thus kept returning to the two of them. The 1994 and 2005 "Fantastic Four" films both featured Doom (played by Joseph Culp and then Julian McMahon). McMahon's Doom then returned in "Rise of the Silver Surfer" to continue causing trouble, even with Galactus on the way. After that, the 2015 "Fantastic Four" movie featured Doom (Toby Kebbell) with no Galactus, while "First Steps" is seemingly doing the reverse of that.

But Galactus was considered to appear in the 2015 "Fantastic Four." Writer Jeremy Slater (who eventually created Marvel Studios' Disney+ series "Moon Knight") has confirmed as much. In a recent interview with ComicBook.com, Slater said he's impressed by the "First Steps" Galactus so far — the movie is doing what he wanted to do, which is "get Galactus right."

"I wanted to make him our big bad and there was some internal pushback. First, he was our big bad. Then, he was just going to appear in one scene. Then, he was only appearing in the post-credits scene," Slater recounted. In the end, there was no post-credits scene to "Fantastic Four," without Galactus or otherwise.

Slater, who has shared details about his script before, had ambitious plans for the Fantastic Four and not just Galactus.

If nothing else, "First Steps" almost certainly has to be better than the 2015 "Fantastic Four" (often nicknamed "Fant4stic" for some poster font). "Fant4stic" is deservedly considered to be one of the worst comic book movies ever. The only interesting thing about it is its disastrous production and how the seams of that are so obvious in the film.

Much of the information about Slater's work on "Fant4stic" comes from a 2016 interview he did with ScreenCrush. Slater claimed that he wrote 10-15 drafts of "Fantastic Four" before writer-director Josh Trank took over; apparently only one line from Slater is in the movie. Now-defunct site Birth.Movies.Death. also reportedly got access to one of Slater's drafts and released a detailed breakdown of it in August 2015, shortly after the movie's release.

Long and short of it is that Slater's draft was filled with characters and visuals right out of the classic Stan Lee and Jack Kirby "Fantastic Four" comics. Slater wanted the FF to fight a kaiju-sized Moloid, invade Doom's nation Latveria "Saving Private Ryan" style, and pal around with their robot buddy H.E.R.B.I.E. (Slater called H.E.R.B.I.E. "BB-8 two years before BB-8 ever existed.")

The problem is that Slater's story would've been expensive to make and 20th Century Fox knew it. As Slater put it, "Would you spend $300 million on a 'Fantastic Four' film? Particularly after the previous two films left a fairly bad taste in audiences' mouths?"

"Fantastic Four" ultimately only had a reported budget of $120 million but still bombed with a take of $167.9 million. (Abysmal word of mouth probably didn't help.) Slater later said he was writing "Fantastic Four" like a Marvel Studios movie; bright, colorful, and full of action and banter. But that wasn't what Trank wanted the movie to be.

Trank, who was coming off helming "Chronicle" (a found-footage film about three teens getting telekinetic powers), was not a comic nerd. His pitch for "Fantastic Four" was darker, emphasizing the body horror of the Four's transformations like in David Cronenberg's "The Fly." It's not certain if including Galactus was still in the cards when Trank was hired, but I think it's plausible that he would've flatly rejected such an over the top character.

There's little trace of body horror in the finished "Fant4stic," except one scene where Doom telekinetically blows up some guys' heads, "Scanners" style. Rumors that Trank behaved badly on set, and let the pressure of directing a blockbuster get to him, have swirled for years. What is clear is that "Fant4stic" underwent heavy reshoots to turn the second half into an action-adventure movie (but one much more modest than what Slater had in mind). Trank disowned the finished product on opening weekend in a swiftly deleted but widely remembered tweet.

One commonality between Slater's scripts and Trank's finished version is that the FF aren't astronauts transformed by a cosmic ray storm. (Them being astronauts is pretty intrinsically tied to the 1960s.) Instead, like in the "Ultimate Fantastic Four" comics, they and Doom get their powers from teleporting to an alternate dimension: The Negative Zone (or "Planet Zero" in "Fant4stic").

In Slater's script, he told ScreenCrush, the Four and Doom are attacked by Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone. The humans are drenched in radiation, transforming them. Victor is left behind, but later returns to Earth, having slain Annihilus and refashioned his Cosmic Control Rod into armor.

In the script reported on by Birth.Movies.Death, it's Galactus who the team encounters in the Negative Zone. Doom would have been sworn to servitude as Galactus' herald and come to Earth to amass power and overthrow his master. The final twist of this script is that Doom is actually an extension of the real Victor, who is physically bound to the Negative Zone, a la how comic Doom often uses robotic Doombot duplicates in his stead.

(Given Slater told ComicBook there was pushback about using Galactus, and claimed to ScreenCrush that his post-credits scene featured Galactus destroying a planet, it's likely later drafts switched Galactus out for Annihilus as the one who the team encounters in the Negative Zone. Galactus appearing early and Doom serving him also fits with Slater saying Galactus started as the big bad.)

The finished film has similar opening beats, including Doom being left behind in the other world. But there, it's just a volcanic eruption that transforms the leads. Planet Zero is a lifeless wasteland and uninspired setting, completely unlike the colorful Negative Zone.

Marvel Comics

It's clear that any ambition behind the scenes in the 2015 "Fantastic Four" was whittled away, including Slater's unrealized intention of including Galactus. While a "Fant4stic" sequel quickly turned into a pipe dream, Marvel's First Family (and Galactus with them) are getting another shot in "First Steps."

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" opens in theaters on July 25, 2025.