Fantastic Four Director on How Galactus Was Practically Created With Minimal CGI

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman recently opened up about Galactus’ role in the movie and detailed how the villain was brought to life. Shakman confirmed Galactus as the film’s main threat and explained why the team used practical effects instead of only motion-capture. His comments reveal how the creative team reimagined the character for the MCU.

Matt Shakman says Fantastic Four’s Galactus wasn’t created with just motion capture

Matt Shakman confirmed Galactus serves as the main antagonist in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and revealed the team created the character differently than in previous adaptations. “I didn’t want to just use motion-capture for Galactus. I wanted to actually have someone there embodying the part,” he told Entertainment Weekly. The director then explained that the team built an entire costume for actor Ralph Ineson, who portrays Galactus in the film.

Unlike the 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which presented Galactus as a space cloud, First Steps depicts him in full armor inspired by Jack Kirby’s original comic design. Shakman said the costume required extensive photography testing to determine how to maintain proper scale on screen. “We’ve done a lot of photography testing to figure out, ‘How do you make sure that the scale is correct? How do you film Mount Rushmore?’” he stated.

The decision to depict Galactus with practical effects seems to fit with the retrofuturist style of the film. Shakman previously described the visual tone of First Steps as “where Kirby meets Kubrick,” referencing the comic book art of Jack Kirby and the cinematic scale of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The goal was to blend 1960s aesthetics with sci-fi innovation, using tangible design elements.

Pedro Pascal, who plays Reed Richards, noted the scale of the threat Galactus poses. “It is definitely a scale of threat which Reed has never experienced. Even the smartest man in the world is awestruck by a being that outdates his understanding of time.”

The Pascal-led movie opens in theaters on July 25, 2025.

Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.

Source: Comingsoon.net