Fantastic Four (2025) director Matt Shakman confirmed a key inconsistency about the new Galactus that fans had been speculating wildly about since the movie's release. Shakman, best known for his work on WandaVision before this, finally brought the world of Marvel's First Family to life in the MCU in the super-powered blockbuster. This included a comic-accurate look for the iconic comic book villain, Galactus, who came to Earth to terrorize the film's central band of heroes.
Galactus arrived on the MCU scene on a scale unlike anything seen in the franchise before, becoming this kaiju-like monstrosity that towered above the skyscrapers of the movie's retro-futurist New York City. However, one thing fans have been contemplating since Fantastic Four's debut has been whether Galactus changes sizes in the new MCU epic or is one consistent capaciousness.
Matt Shakman, director of Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps, confirmed in a new interview with The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of that his take on Galactus' size is, in fact, inconsistent in the new movie (for a good reason).
"He changes by hundreds of feet," the Marvel filmmaker admitted. He explained that with a character as big as the dastardly devourer of worlds, a filmmaker must ensure he is "big relative to whatever he is next to," meaning he "ranges from 700 feet to 1000 feet to 1200 feet" in the movie:
"In fact, not to blow it or give anything away, but [Galactus'] scale changes in our movie too, but not to the eye. I've done Godzilla before too, and it is the same thing. You want to make sure that he is big relative to whatever he is next to. So, sometimes he needs to be taller than the building. Sometimes he needs to be as tall as the Golden Gate Bridge. So, he changes by hundreds of feet, and we did the same thing with Galactus. He ranges from 700 feet to 1000 feet to 1200 feet, depending on what he's near."
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is still playing in theaters worldwide, bringing the beloved Marvel Comics team to the MCU for the first time. Shakman's movie sees Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, The Thing, and Human Torch go up against the terrifying Galactus and his herald, Silver Surfer, as the fate of their Earth is put in question.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn as its new take on Marvel's First Family, with Ralph Ineson and Julia Garner as its pair of space-faring villains.
Will Galactus' Size-Changing Ability Come Into Play in the MCU?
While Galactus' inconsistent size in First Steps was a filmmaking necessity, the Devourer of Worlds can notably change his size at will in the comics. The character can channel what is known as the Power Cosmic, allowing him to shrink to the size of a man or grow larger than entire solar systems.
While the character's scale varied slightly in Fantastic Four, fans did not see the full scale of his size-changing powers (read more about why Marvel Studios depowered Galactus for the MCU here).
But that does not mean audiences will never get to see what Galactus is capable of in Marvel Studios' on-screen universe. Some speculated the world-eating villain could come back in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars to either power or destroy Doctor Doom's Multiversal pursuits.
This could result in the new Galactus growing larger than anything audiences saw in First Steps, perhaps dominating an entire horizon at a particular point, like the Celestial did at the end of Eternals.
