The combination of Arnold Schwarzenegger and superhero movies doesn’t dredge up the greatest of memories, and while the actor has only starred in one film in the genre, Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin is regarded as one of its very worst efforts, with the action icon’s hammy and pun-happy performance as Mr. Freeze denounced as perhaps the single most widely-panned aspect of the infamous dud.
That being said, he’s still a huge name in the industry, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become rather fond of casting A-list veteran actors in small but pivotal supporting parts. For instance, his old rival Sylvester Stallone boarded the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise as Stakar Ogord, and is expected to return for James Gunn’s upcoming Vol. 3, but Kevin Smith believes that Schwarzenegger would be a solid fit for another intergalactic comic book character.
The writer, director, actor and podcaster revealed that he’d love to see the 73 year-old as the MCU’s Galactus, the all-powerful cosmic entity who many have speculated could be the franchise’s next big bad, and it seems like a foregone conclusion that the villain will be at least teased or hinted at in Jon Watts’ Fantastic Four reboot.
“I want to see him in a big funny hat, I want to see him eating planets. Then you’ve got your Stallone, you’ve got your Schwarzenegger, and then in your Planet Hollywood triumvirate, you get Bruce Willis to play the Silver Surfer.”
Galactus is one of the most feared figures in the entire galaxy, although his only big screen appearance so far saw him depicted as a cloud in Tim Story’s Rise of the Silver Surfer, so there’s a completely blank slate to play with. In all honesty, having Arnold Schwarzenegger cast as the Fantastic Four’s archenemy isn’t the worst idea in the world, and he’d at least be able to convince as an imposing presence that’s spent his entire existence devouring planets whole.
