Exclusive: Antonio Banderas Offered Galactus In Fantastic Four Movie
Antonio Banderas may play Galactus in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie.
Update February 2024: Antonio Banderas was not cast as Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The role has gone to Ralph Ineson.
Spanish actor Antonio Banderas has been offered the role of cosmic entity Galactus in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe Fantastic Four movie, which is an unexpected move, to say the least. According to our trusted and proven sources, it is now up to the Puss in Boots actor whether or not he wants to portray one of the most iconic characters in all of comic book history. While Antonio Banderas is not the first person we would necessarily think of as the world-devouring universal entity, we are cautiously optimistic about his potential.
Very little is currently known about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, which is easily one of the most anticipated upcoming projects from Marvel Studios. Our previous exclusive report that Adam Driver is currently in talks to join the film was recently confirmed, and there are consistent rumors that That ‘70s Show star Mila Kunis and Scream 6’s Mason Gooding may be in competition for roles on the team. However, this is the first concrete word that Marvel is looking to lock down Antonio Banderas as Galactus, one of the most important figures in the lore of the Fantastic Four (as well as Marvel Comics overall).
Galactus was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in a 1966 Fantastic Four storyline generally referred to as the “Galactus trilogy,” in which the seemingly omnipotent entity arrived on Earth to consume the life force of the planet, as he had countless worlds before. The character was intended to be a break from previous comic book villains with aims of power or greed and to be essentially a figure beyond good or evil, changing the simple paradigm of good guys vs. bad guys.
Since that storyline (which also introduced the equally iconic Silver Surfer), Galactus has become an important part of Marvel continuity, eventually becoming codified as a necessary force of balance in the cosmos. It has been rumored for quite some time that Galactus would be the antagonist of the Fantastic Four film, so it will be interesting to see how Antonio Banderas could depict such a bold (some would say goofy) concept as a giant space-man in a purple helmet.
It is entirely possible that (if he should take the role) Antonio Banderas will not be portraying Galactus in his traditional form, which loses some gravitas and suspension of disbelief when transferred from the pages of comic books to another medium. In 2019’s Captain Marvel, the studio chose to portray the Kree Supreme Intelligence (usually seen as a giant green head with tentacles in a tank) as basically Annette Bening on a soundstage, so hopefully it can come up with something better for Antonio Banderas.
On the other hand, the last attempt to put Galactus on screen was in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, in which the entity was portrayed as a big purple space cloud, which also lacks a certain kind of grandeur. If Antonio Banderas does indeed take the role of Galactus, we’ll be interested to see what he does with it.
