New Look at Ralph Ineson’s Practical Galactus Costume on the Set of The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Warning: This post contains major spoilers for Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters, and Ralph Ineson, who played Galactus in the movie, has shared a behind‑the‑scenes image of himself in the practical Galactus costume on the set.

On Instagram, Ineson shared the images and wrote:

“Time for some The Fantastic Four: First Steps BTS photos. The first is me out of makeup, wearing the suit for VFX scanning (note the socks honoring another powerful space being). My daughter is with me, wearing the Galactus helmet she made for me as a Father’s Day gift when I got the part. The design was from the comics, as we hadn’t seen the film costume at that point.

The second photo is helmet‑less Galactus between set‑ups in my costume tent, decorated by fellow #LUFC fan Lev from the amazing AD department. Thank you to them and my team of makeup and costume crew for keeping me cool and safe on set. It literally took an army to get Galactus onto the screen, and I’m very proud of the end product of all our hard work.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, director Matt Shakman confirmed that they didn’t just use motion capture or CGI — they built a full costume for the character, with Ineson wearing it on set. The design is based on Galactus’s iconic purple‑and‑blue armor from the comics, and the team tested multiple versions to ensure it looked right on screen.

Shakman said, “I didn’t want to just use motion-capture for Galactus. I wanted to actually have someone there embodying the part.” Shakman added, “So we’ve built an entire costume for him, and we’ve done a lot of photography testing to figure out, How do you make sure that the scale is correct? How do you film Mount Rushmore?”

At the end of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Galactus no longer threatens Earth‑828, as Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) builds a network of standing portals designed to transport Earth to a distant galaxy beyond Galactus’s reach. By the end of the film, the team successfully sends Galactus through one of the portals, far away from Earth.

Here’s the plot details for The Fantastic Four: First Steps:

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic (Pascal), Sue Storm / Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm / Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm / The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet — and everyone on it — weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.

The film also stars Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles. Directed by Shakman, produced by Kevin Feige, and executive produced by Louis D’Esposito, Grant Curtis, and Tim Lewis.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters, and the film has received an A– on CinemaScore.

Source: Ralph Ineson/X

RELATED: Marvel’s ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ VOD Release Date Revealed