Why Galactus Is Better As Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four Villain Instead Of Doctor Doom

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Summary

Galactus may be a better main villain than Doctor Doom for The Fantastic Four's MCU debut in 2025.
The movie could be set in the 1960s, as teased by the announcement art for The Fantastic Four's cast.
While Galactus poses risks, like repeating world-ending stakes, he could elevate The Fantastic Four as a blockbuster.

Galactus would be a better choice to serve as the main villain of The Fantastic Four instead of Doctor Doom. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has finally started moving forward on its adaptation of Marvel's First Family. While MCU Spider-Man franchise director Jon Watts had previously left The Fantastic Four, with WandaVision's Matt Shakman taking his place, the movie had seen little progress. After months of rumors, The Fantastic Four's cast was finally announced this month, consisting of Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm.
The Fantastic Four's casting announcement came with a release date shift, with the MCU movie now premiering on July 25, 2025.
Marvel Studios used custom art to announce the movie's cast, seemingly revealing that The Fantastic Four will be set in the past — most likely the 1960s. While the film's heroes are now confirmed, Marvel still has to reveal who will play the movie's villain — or even which Marvel Comics character will go up against the Fantastic Four. While there has been no official word on the matter, rumors claim that Doctor Doom will only play a small role in the film, with Galactus set as The Fantastic Four's villain, and that would be great for the film.

Related Everything We Know About Marvel's Fantastic Four Reboot The MCU is bringing a new version of the Fantastic Four as part of its Multiverse Saga, and here's what you need to know about this reboot. Doctor Doom Has Been Overused In Fantastic Four Movies The Villain Is The Marvel Team's Most Iconic Foe Close It is understandable that after the reveal of The Fantastic Four's cast, all eyes turned to who could be playing Doctor Doom in the movie. After all, Victor von Doom is one of Marvel's most famous villains, with the character known just as much for his expansive powers as he is known for his unique intellect. In live-action, Doom's image has been pretty much meshed together with that of the Fantastic Four, which only makes the anticipation for the villain's MCU debut more understandable. Doctor Doom has appeared in all the live-action Fantastic Four movies so far.
In two of those films, he was the main villain, which means it is time for the MCU to stop overusing the character. While Doom should definitely remain connected to the Fantastic Four when they debut in the MCU, it is time for the character to take a backseat, playing a supporting role or just making a cameo in The Fantastic Four while another villain takes center stage. Based on the list of antagonists who have gone up against the Fantastic Four, Galactus emerges as the best possible option to face the team in their MCU debut.
Galactus Needs A Proper Live-Action Adaptation His Only Live-Action Appearance Was Far From Ideal

Galactus has appeared so far in only one movie: 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. However, the villain looked completely different from how he does in the comics, appearing as a giant cloud, tornado-like figure instead of the giant humanoid being he should be. Speaking to Comicbook.com in 2023, Tim Story, the director of the 2000s Fantastic Four movies, explained why Galactus ended up not being comic book-accurate in his movie debut. According to Story, "The ones in charge were afraid of what that could be." The director added, "That's not the interpretation it should have been."
Following the atrocious, anti-climatic appearance of the Marvel character in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Galactus has yet to return in live-action. As the MCU's The Fantastic Four aims to finally do right by the comic book team, it would be fitting for the film to also take into account the fact that Galactus deserves justice in live-action, using the villain for the team's debut movie. A proper depiction of the character is in order, and having Galactus tower over the Fantastic Four like the Celestial Arishem did in Eternals would up the stakes for the film.

Related Is Galactus A Celestial? Eternals MCU Link Explained Some believe that Galactus is featured in the Eternals trailer. Could the Fantastic Four villain really be in the movie as one of the Celestials? Galactus Could Explain Where The MCU’s Fantastic Four Have Been The Multiverse Might Be In Play For The Team's MCU Debut

If The Fantastic Four likely takes place in the past, as was teased by the announcement art for the movie's casting, there are two ways in which that could go. Either the Fantastic Four exist in the main MCU Earth, and something ends up making them time travel to the present, or the characters' story does take place in the past as expected, but in another universe. Explaining the Fantastic Four's absence from the MCU up to this point, similarly to the Eternals — they were around but did not intervene — would not work.
As The Fantastic Four will be one of the Multiverse Saga's biggest releases, it would make sense for Marvel Studios to take the multiverse route to explain where the team has been, which is also something that could be explored when the MCU's X-Men are introduced. To set up Galactus as a major threat for future MCU adventures, the Devourer of Worlds could end up destroying the Fantastic Four's Earth in another universe — in the 1960s — which would result in the team escaping to the main MCU reality and having to settle in both a new universe and the future.

Related 10 MCU Characters The Fantastic Four Could Meet In The 1960s Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four reboot has been speculated to be set during the 1960s, meaning the team could meet several iconic MCU characters. Why Galactus Is A Risk For The Fantastic Four's Debut Galactus' MCU Debut Has A Chance Of Backfiring

While Galactus as the main antagonist of The Fantastic Four instead of Doctor Doom being used in the role in yet another movie would make the team's MCU debut feel fresh, the move would not come without some risks. As Galactus' only live-action appearance was the less-than-amusing depiction of himself as a cloud in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, with no lines and only a cameo role, the character will come with some negative baggage. Besides, a comics-accurate Galactus could feel too similar to what happened with Arishem in Eternals to some fans.
Among other possible risks of having Galactus be the main villain of The Fantastic Four are those related to the film's scale and Doctor Doom's role. One of the common MCU complaints in recent years has been that most projects have world-ending stakes, and Galactus would once again repeat that, possibly taking away from the personal Fantastic Four story fans want. As for Doctor Doom, after such a long time, having the character possibly only debut or play a role in Fantastic Four 2 or another movie might seem too long of a wait.
Saving Doom for Avengers: Secret Wars — the movie he should be a part of given his connection to the comic book event — could be a misstep. The finale of Multiverse Saga will have to balance many moving parts, and introducing Doctor Doom and giving him a sizable role would be tough. However, if done correctly, Galactus has the potential to make The Fantastic Four one of the MCU's best blockbusters yet. Doom can serve in a supporting role, but an important one, with Galactus becoming a force to be reckoned with in the MCU beyond The Fantastic Four.

Marvel's Fantastic Four
Director Matt Shakman Release Date July 25, 2025 Cast Pedro Pascal , Vanessa Kirby , Ebon Moss-Bachrach , Joseph Quinn

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