Why was there no Galactus in the flop 2015 Fantastic Four? Explored in depth

With The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel's First Family is officially entering the MCU, and there's plenty to be excited about this project. The fans are hyped to see Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach in this latest adaptation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's comics, which will also feature Silver Surfer and Galactus wreaking havoc on the planet.

Until now, the studio has held on to the mystery of Galactus' complete look in the final cut. The initial trailers offered a glimpse of his massive scale as he towered over the Big Apple, casting a huge shadow, and covering most of the city in its gloomy darkness. Even the final trailer shows only a peek or two at his blue-purple armor, even though it doesn't show his face or how English actor Ralph Ineson will look in this part.

Despite all those facts, the promos make one thing clear: Galactus is a force to be reckoned with. He will be enormous, staying true to his image (from the comics) as the giant must consume planets to survive.

Judging by the trailers, Matt Shakman's new film, written by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson, echoes that sentiment. However, that wasn't the case with the 2015 Fantastic Four movie, directed by Josh Trank, which didn't even show Galactus and had a 4.3 IMDb rating. The reason for Galactus' exclusion in the 2015 adaptation, dubbed Fant4stic, is reportedly the multiple rewrites (and reshoots) that steered away from the comics' vibrant vision. Unfortunately, that didn't save it from being a flop.

The 2015 Fantastic Four movie bombed at the box office because of the lack of a coherent creative vision.

The Josh Tank directorial had plenty of things going for it. It had a solid cast of Miles Teller (Whiplash), Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Kate Mara (House of Cards), and Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) but they couldn't save it from being a critical misfire and a box office disaster and that's reportedly because its unfocused creative vision.

There were many rewrites for this project, co-produced by 20th Century Fox, which led to significant changes in its creative approach. Jeremy Slater (Moon Knight, Mortal Kombat 2), who worked on an initial draft, had a vision much closer to the comics. He wanted to bring Kirby and Lee's colorful vision to life in all its glory. More importantly, he wanted Galactus to be a major part of the story.

The later development led to significant changes, one of them being that Galactus was completely cut from the final cut. That's unfortunate, considering how vivid Slater's vision was for this villain.

"I wanted to make him our big bad and there was some internal pushback. First, he was our big bad. Then, he was just going to appear in one scene. Then, he was only appearing in the post-credits scene," Slater recounted. In the end, there was no post-credits scene to "Fantastic Four."

Unlike what he imagined, Fant4stic didn't have the planet-eating giant, nor did it have a post-credit scene.

Fant4stic failed to win over the Marvel fans, and it wasn't faithful to the comics.

/Film suggests that director Josh Tank wanted to approach his Fantastic Four movie like a David Cronenberg film. He wanted it to be decidedly darker than the playfully imaginative comics, to focus on the horrors of their bodily transformations. That didn't work out either, since the film does not feature any horrifying body horror film, but one.

There's another major change in Tank's final cut as it features Doctor Doom (then played by Toby Kebbell), which isn't the case with the latest MCU film. Robert Downey Jr. will take over this title only in Avengers: Doomsday. Yet, despite Doom's inclusion, the 2005 movie missed the chance to expand on the connection between Doom and Galactus, which was reportedly a part of one of Slater's earlier drafts.

Slater also wanted Annihilus to be a part of the film — to use the Negative Zone as a bouncing point for its central conflict. In the final cut, Planet Zero is unfortunately underdeveloped as a setting, leaving Doom to not feel as effective as he does in the comics. So, to summarise, much of the failure of the 2025 Fantastic Four movies boils down to the lack of ambition and cohesive vision, made worse by the multiple reshoots.

Hopefully, The Fantastic Four: First Steps will offer a chance to course-correct with Galactus' portrayal.

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The Fantastic Four: First Steps is scheduled to be released on July 25, 2025.

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