Javier Bardem Eyed For Galactus In Fantastic Four

On paper, this sounds like some inspired casting. Javier Bardem has an impressive history of bringing some of cinema’s most compelling bad guys to life: in No Country for Old Men, he played Anton Chigurh, a character whose coldhearted method of dispatching his foes was even scarier than his awful haircut. And in the James Bond film Skyfall, he played the much more flamboyant Raoul Silva, and his charismatic performance helped make that film one of the absolute best movies in Bond history. 

For longtime fans waiting for Marvel to get the character right, the very fact that Javier Bardem is being considered for Galactus is reassuring because it implies that the character will be portrayed as a giant humanoid. In Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, we saw the titular hero defeat Galactus, but the villain was portrayed as a kind of devouring hurricane rather than a humanoid. While that portrayal is true to the character’s appearance in the Ultimates line of comics, disappointed audiences mostly agreed they would rather Galactus be the big purple dude introduced in the original Fantastic Four comic.

As exciting as the potential casting news is, we wouldn’t recommend popping the cork on your Ultimate Nullifier just yet. While Javier Bardem appears to be the current frontrunner to play Galactus (surpassing Antonio Banderas, who had previously been the strongest contender), he has a scheduling conflict because he must soon shoot Apple’s F1 movie alongside Brad Pitt. Only time will tell if that conflict keeps him from clashing with Reed Richards on the big screen, but since Marvel has been dealing with strike-related delays and internal MCU restructuring, it’s quite possible the House of Mouse may decide they can wait until Bardem’s schedule is free.

If scheduling conflicts do keep Javier Bardem from performing in the upcoming Fantastic Four film, he may soon be in good company. Just as Marvel wanted a big name to play Galactus, the company wanted a similarly big name to play Reed Richards, better known by his nom de stretch Mister Fantastic. There are now reports that The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal will play that role, but considering that he will soon be shooting both Gladiator 2 and a second season of The Last of Us, he may similarly be too busy to engage in Marvel’s cosmic adventures.

For our part, we’d love to see Pedro Pascal’s Mr. Fantastic tangle with Javier Bardem’s Galactus on the big screen. Here’s hoping that Marvel is able to make it happen and that these performers are able to breathe some new life into the MCU. It’s a toss-up as to whether that will happen, and Marvel may be asking themselves what Bardem asked his victims in No Country For Old Men: what’s the most you ever lost on a coin toss?