John Malkovich and Ralph Ineson Join ‘Fantastic Four’

John Malkovich and ‘The Witch’s Ralph Ineson Join Marvel’s “Fantastic Four’

While Malkovich’s role is a mystery for now, Ineson has been confirmed as the powerful, planet-eating character Galactus in the new superhero entry.

(Left) John Malkovich in 'Burn After Reading'. Photo: Focus Features. (Right) Ralph Ineson in 'The Last Victim.'

Preview:

‘Fantastic Four’ has added actors John Malkovich and Ralph Ineson.
Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bacharach are among the leads.
The movie will be on screens in 2025.

As it starts to really fill out its cast –– Paul Walter Hauser was the most recent addition –– details on Marvel’s new cinematic plans for its First Family are starting to come into focus.

And with two new casting additions, we have one big new chunk of information about the movie.

The latest recruits? John Malkovich and Ralph Ineson.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

Not Yet RatedJul 25th, 2025

Watch The Fantastic Four: First Steps Online

What’s the story of ‘The Fantastic Four’?

Marvel's Fantastic Four. Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

The movie, which finally see Marvel’s most famous comic book superheroes (though X-Men fans might argue that) join the company’s sprawling Cinematic Universe, is mostly being kept under wraps.

Marvel has not said anything about the story, though its first imagery suggests a period setting.

Who is starring in ‘Fantastic Four’?

(Left) Pedro Pascal as Maxwell "Max Lord" Lorenzano in 'Wonder Woman 1984.' Photo: Warner Bros. (Center Left) Vanessa Kirby at the Netflix Original Series world premiere of 'The Crown.' November 1st 2016. London UK. (Center Right) Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Rochard "Richie" Jerimovich in 'The Bear.' Photo: Courtesy of FX. (Right) Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson in 'Stranger Things.' Photo Courtesy of Netflix © 2022.

The main title characters are being played by Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bacharach (Ben Grimm/The Thing).

Hauser’s character is unknown for now, but we did learn that Julia Garner has joined the cast as Shalla-Bal, a version of Silver Surfer.

And that connects directly to Ineson’s casting, as he’ll play Galactus, one of the more powerful character in Marvel lore. While he isn’t always a clear-cut villain (he has in the past, worked with both the Four and the Avengers in the comics), the fact that he consumes whole planets and everything on them usually means that he’s bad news for any hero team he comes into contact with. The Surfer is usually the herald of Galactus who scouts worlds for his next meal.

Marvel Comics' Galactus. Photo: Marvel Comics.

Whether Ineson will be heading into a voice booth or showing up on set in a performance capture suit a la Thanos actor Josh Brolin may depend on how the movie is portraying the character. He’s often visualized as a giant in a suit and a helmet, though movies have previously chosen to go the weird cloud of energy route.

Ineson is probably best known to genre fans for several projects –– a British actor who played the obnoxious Finchy on the original, UK ‘The Office’, he’s had some choice movies, including in Robert Eggers’ ‘The Witch’, David Lowery’s ‘The Green Knight’ and, more recently in ‘The Creator’ and ‘The First Omen’. He’s reunited with Eggers for ‘Nosferatu’, which will be in theaters on December 25th.

As for Malkovich, we don’t yet know who he’ll be playing.

Who is making ‘The Fantastic Four’?

'Monarch: Legacy of Monsters' director and executive producer Matt Shakman. Photo: Apple TV+.

Matt Shakman, who worked on ‘WandaVision’, is directing the film, working from a script that has seen contributions from Eric Pearson, Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. And ‘WandaVision’s Peter Cameron did some work once Shakman boarded the project, also.