Matt Shakman Reveals Why Galactus Was Chosen For New Fantastic Four Movie
During a conversation with Entertainment Weekly (via ComingSoon), Matt Shakman, director of the MCU movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps, revealed why Galactus was picked as the main villain instead of Doctor Doom. Shakman confirmed that Robert Downey Jr. will make his on-screen debut as Doom in Avengers: Doomsday and will not be featured in First Steps.
The director explained, “Doom’s a great character, but he takes up a lot of air. Other film adaptations have done both an origin story and Doom. We’re doing neither, and that allows us to look at them from a fresh perspective.”
This choice marks the first live-action Fantastic Four movie to veer away from Doom as the main villain, integrating him into the team’s origin story, which is something Shakman intentionally wanted to avoid. He also emphasised the creative opportunities that would come from going a different route from the previous movies, stating that the choice would free up space to reintroduce the Fantastic Four with a unique narrative direction.
Shakman also explained the practical approach they took for the character of Galactus in the movie. They avoided motion-capture in the process, opting to “have someone there embodying the part,” with Ralph Ineson wearing physical armour for the role.
Pedro Pascal, who plays Reed Richards, reinforced the danger and magnitude of the villain as “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.”
As previously mentioned, fans won’t see Doom until next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, in which Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach will reprise their roles to take on Robert Downey Jr. as the titular villain. This all fits within the wider plan for Marvel’s Multiverse Saga which was altered after Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was rebranded to Avengers: Doomsday.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in cinemas on July 25th.
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