Credit: MarvelMarvel has scored a brand new hit with Deadpool & Wolverine, but there’s no time to waste: the studio is already ramping up press for The Fantastic Four and given us a glimpse at the movie’s Big Bad, Galactus.
After a long streak of middling-to-poor performances at the box office that included Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and The Marvels, it seems that Marvel Studios is finally getting a little bit of a break with the third Deadpool movie.
The movie has already cracked $100 million globally and has a good chance of becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, buoyed by the return of Hugh Jackman as Logan and general nostalgia for the Fox X-Men franchise.
Related: Jessica Alba Back For ‘The Fantastic Four’ In MCU Shakeup
Now that The Walt Disney Company owns all of Fox’s IP, including the X-Men, it is also trying to generate enthusiasm for its upcoming reboot of the Fantastic Four, which will be released next year and star Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Susan Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm.
Fortunately, San Diego Comic-Con Hall H is here for all the major studios to promote their upcoming projects.
Accordingly, Marvel Studios revealed a massive drone show that depicted Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds, before coalescing into the Fantastic Four logo.
Galactus and The Fantastic Four reveal at the Marvel drone show pic.twitter.com/k4jDpA2348
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 26, 2024
Related: Marvel Casts Netflix Icon in Upcoming ‘The Fantastic Four’
The upcoming film will star Game of Thrones actor Ralph Ineson as the cosmic being, a character first introduced in Marvel Comics in Fantastic Four #48 (1966) as part of the iconic The Galactus Trilogy (co-written and penciled by Jack Kirby with editor Stan Lee).
In the mythos of Marvel, Galactus is an immensely powerful being who travels the universe devouring planets to sustain himself, usually accompanied by a herald; in The Fantastic Four, that role will be filled by Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal, one incarnation of the Silver Surfer.
The fact that The Fantastic Four will feature a female Silver Surfer has ruffled feathers with some more dogmatic comic book fans, but it also suggested (and has since been confirmed) that the movie will not take place in the Earth-616/Sacred Timeline of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that fans are used to.
While it may be that Disney is currently looking to wind down the Multiverse Saga (which has hit a few bumps along the way), it seems that we’ll get at least a few more entries in the series before Kevin Feige moves on entirely.
San Diego Comic-Con 2024 ‘Fantastic Four’ Update:
In addition to the drone show highlighting Galactus, reports from Comic-Con indicate a teaser was shown for The Fantastic Four, including a brief shot of the World Devourer. Footage can be seen here:
The #FantasticFour and Galactus from the #SDCC Footage pic.twitter.com/iqFcw7U5kC
— Distroyer Leaks (@Dristoyerleak83) July 28, 2024
In contrast to Galactus’ previous depiction in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), it appears the MCU version of the character will be the traditional gigantic humanoid as seen in Marvel Comics.
The Fantastic Four is scheduled for release on July 25, 2025. It will star Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Ralph Ineson. Matt Shakman directed the film from a screenplay by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer & Josh Friedman.
Are you ready for the Multiverse Saga to end?