Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel’s resuscitation of four popular characters with a spotty track record at the movies, is nearly upon us. And as the July 25 release date looms, so does Galactus, Eater of Worlds. The cosmic threat has been shrouded in shadow in most of First Steps’ reveals, but a new final trailer for the Pedro Pascal-led blockbuster showcases just how BIG of a bad the MCU’s new big bad really is. And if the retro First Steps truly throws back to the early Fantastic Four comics, the movie might be more of a tragedy in line with Avengers: Infinity War than a triumphant franchise kick-off like Iron Man.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced Galactus and his herald the Silver Surfer in 1961’s Fantastic Four #48 as, what the Watcher describes as “the ultimate danger — perhaps the final danger.” Even the omniscient being who swears he never wants to intervene (but always does?) quivers in his boots upon the arrival of the Surfer, who prepares Earth on behalf of his hungry master. Galactus isn’t necessarily an evil guy, he’s just starving! A hangry villain for the ages.
But, basically, over a three-issue run, the Fantastic Four have no idea how to stop him. By Fantastic Four #50, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, and even the Silver Surfer — who rejects his role as herald and fights Galactus alongside the FF — are so down on their luck, that the Watcher breaks his rule and sends Johnny zipping across the cosmos in search of a deus ex machina weapon called The Ultimate Nullifier. When the Human Torch brings it back to Earth, looking absolutely wiped afterward, Galactus gets spooked. The Ultimate Nullifier really will ultimately nullify him! So the towering planet-gobbler asks politely not to get nullified and, in return, will move on to eat some other unsuspecting planet. The Watcher agrees, hoping Galactus could, you know, eat a desolate planet instead of one populated by millions of people, and everyone goes along their way.
The Galactus Trilogy, as those three issues have become known as, was truly revolutionary for its time, for having a villain that simply could not be beaten, thus flipping the main premise of all superhero stories of the time: the villains always get their due. First Steps could take a cue from those early Lee and Kirby books in a major way: While we’ve seen Pascal’s Reed gulp as he admits he isn’t sure if Earth is safe this time, there’s a certain magnitude to the terror of Galactus as seen in this new trailer. The assured superhero team looks completely out of their depths — and with a new baby to deal with on the side! Based on the end of Thunderbolts*, there may not be an epic fight in store for the Fantastic Four at the end of First Steps, but a radical sacrifice that changes the multiverse forever. Bleak.
