Ralph Ineson, One-Time Ravager Pilot, Has Been Cast As Galactus In 'The Fantastic Four'
Ralph Ineson, One-Time Ravager Pilot, Has Been Cast As Galactus In 'The Fantastic Four'
Marvel fans are eating good on casting news. It could almost be a whole planet’s worth!
Mere hours after the casting news of John Malkovich in Marvel Studios’s The Fantastic Four broke, the film was announced to have found its villain. British actor Ralph Ineson has been cast as towering planet eater Galactus.
Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Galactus first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 in 1966. Originally Galan a humanoid from planet Taa, his entire universe was destroyed in the Big Crunch, but his essence merged with the sentience of the cosmos. The Big Bang forms the current universe and rebirths Galan as Galactus, making him the “sole survivor of the previous cosmos”. Galactus attained immense power and nearly limitless ability to manipulate cosmic energy and matter, and project energy as well. He can do long-range teleportation and oh yeah, eats the life force of planets to keep up his energy, giving him such reputation as a “world devourer”. He’s also known for his signature horned purple helmet.
Ineson known for his current horror streak with roles in The Pope’s Exorcist, The First Omen, and the upcoming Nosferatu remake from Robert Eggers in December with Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Emma Corrin, Bill Skarsgard and Willem Dafoe and Guillermo Del Toro’s Frankenstein, with Jacob Elordi, Oscar Isaac, Mia Goth and Christoph Waltz currently in production. He first broke out as Chris Finch on the original British version of The Office. His American equivalent is considered to be David Koechner’s Todd Packer. He's been Amycus Carrow in the latter three Harry Potter films, was William in The Witch, Colonel Ansiv Garmuth in The Last Jedi, and also has credits in The Creator, Gunpowder Milkshake and The Northman while being the titular Green Knight in The Green Knight. He’s also got some fantasy TV in him with roles in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and the Willow sequel series that is no longer on Disney+. But to top it all off, he’s already been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a Ravager Pilot in the first Guardians of the Galaxy. He could always ring up Michelle Yeoh and Gemma Chan at the top of actors who have played multiple characters not of the same being in the franchise. He also confirmed the casting by quoting Variety’s coverage, tweeting “World devouring cosmic villain is it? I’ll see what I can do”.
In addition to Malkovich, Ineson joins a The Fantastic Four starring Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm the Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm the Thing, forming the team that will be fending Galactus off. The film also stars Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, a Silver Surfer who may wind up as or having been Galactus’s herald as Silver Surfers tend to be. The sequential circumstances have not been laid out. Paul Walter Hauser was also recently cast but like Malkovich his role has not been revealed.
The Fantastic Four is directed by WandaVision creator Matt Shakman from a script by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Eric Pearson and Ian Springer. The film is set to be released on July 25, 2025.
Sources: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Ralph Ineson