Galactus actor Ralph Ineson teased Lex Luthor star Nicholas Hoult about who is the better comic-book movie villain "It’s hardly fair. You’re a cosmic entity; I’m just a guy"

It looks like this summer will not only see the battle of the superhero movies, but also the supervillains, as The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Galactus star Ralph Ineson says he poked fun at Superman’s Lex Luthor star Nicholas Hoult, over who is the best baddie.

"We actually had a text conversation this morning about it," said Ineson in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. "I sent him something off social media that said that he gave the all-time greatest superhero villain performance, and I said, 'Hold my beer.'"

In the new Fantastic Four movie, Ineson plays the Devourer of Worlds, Galactus, a space giant who literally feeds on planets from the inside out. Whereas Hoult recently took to the screen in Superman as evil genius Lex Luthor, who, although he holds a lot of power mentally and financially, he is just a man. It sounds like Hoult twigged onto the difference too.

"He then laughed and said, 'It’s hardly fair. You’re a cosmic entity; I’m just a guy,'" continued Ineson. "And I said, 'Fair enough, but I am fighting four of them.' (Laughs.) And then he said something like, 'But I get an upset tummy when I eat spicy food.' So I think he’s given up on the man-on-demigod battle."

The two worked together on Robert Eggers' 2024 horror movie Nosferatu, where Hoult played the evil vampire Count Orlok’s unknowing estate agent and Ineson played the doctor who treats Hutter’s vampire-struck wife. However, the two were already working on their respective DC and Marvel projects whilst on the Nosferatu press run, so they must have spoken about playing villains then too.

As for the battle of the villains, Hoult’s Luthor failed to best the Man of Steel in James Gunn’s new movie, so it will be interesting to see how Ineson’s Galactus fares in the new Marvel Phase 6 film. Something tells us that the iron giant won’t do much better.

Both Superman and The Fantastic Four: First Steps are out in cinemas now. For more, read our The Fantastic Four: First Steps review, and keep up with upcoming Marvel movies heading your way.