MCU Star Fires Back at Deadpool Co-Creator Over Marvel Critique
After Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld took aim at Marvel’s VFX, MCU newcomer Ralph Ineson fired back—reigniting the franchise’s simmering effects debate and stoking fresh questions about where the studio is headed.
The MCU VFX debate just lit up again, this time because Rob Liefeld took a shot at how Galactus looks in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and the guy who actually plays Galactus, Ralph Ineson, handed back a pretty tidy clapback. It is part VFX nitpick, part long-running grudge, and very much the kind of behind-the-scenes tension that keeps getting louder around Marvel right now.
The spark: Liefeld vs. Galactus
On November 24, 2025, Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld reposted a GIF of Galactus from The Fantastic Four: First Steps on X and wrote: "Looks so fake. The Marvel FX fell off a cliff." That is not exactly subtle, and it fits with the tone of his recent Marvel commentary.
Ralph Ineson answers back
The next day, November 25, 2025, Ralph Ineson — who plays Galactus in First Steps — responded with two words and an emoji: "Rent free" plus a tears-of-joy face. Short, sharp, and clearly aimed at the idea that Liefeld cannot stop thinking about Marvel.
Why Liefeld is this mad at Marvel
This is not just about pixels. Liefeld has been openly frustrated with Marvel for months, and it traces back to Deadpool & Wolverine. He says he asked Marvel for a special credit on that film and was turned down, with his name instead placed in the standard end-credits section for comic creators. At the premiere, he says he found out he and his family were not invited to the afterparty. He also says Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige did not acknowledge him on the red carpet despite standing nearby.
"It was meant to embarrass, diminish, defeat me" and "Kevin Feige does not treat comic book creators well."
That was Liefeld on his podcast, comments that were widely circulated at the time. After that, he announced he had cut ties with Marvel.
He kept the hits coming post-First Steps
Months later, after The Fantastic Four: First Steps rolled out, Liefeld posted a photo of an almost empty IMAX theater and said the film was getting "very little repeat biz" because "it's impossibly dull and boring." So when he called the Galactus VFX fake this week, it landed on top of an already growing pile of complaints.
But here is what the movie actually did
Despite the noise, The Fantastic Four: First Steps was received well by most people who saw it. It pulled an 86 percent critics score and a 90 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it cleared 521 million dollars worldwide. Story-wise, the movie ends with Galactus defeated and sent packing to another part of the universe.
What comes next
The Fantastic Four will be back in Avengers: Doomsday, with Doctor Doom stepping in as the main villain. Which should be... eventful.
Quick timeline
- Deadpool & Wolverine era: Liefeld asks Marvel for a special credit, gets standard end-credits placement instead; says he and his family were not invited to the afterparty; says Kevin Feige did not acknowledge him on the red carpet; later says he cut ties with Marvel.
- Post-release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps: Liefeld posts an image of a mostly empty IMAX and calls the movie dull, says it is getting very little repeat business.
- Nov 24, 2025: Liefeld reposts a Galactus GIF from First Steps and says the VFX look fake and Marvel FX have fallen off a cliff.
- Nov 25, 2025: Ralph Ineson replies "Rent free" with a tears-of-joy emoji.
My read
The VFX gripe is the headline, but the real story is old wounds and credit fights colliding with a movie that, by the numbers, worked for audiences. Ineson tossing off "Rent free" is a neat, clean response. Whether this quiets the VFX discourse or just fuels another round of it... well, you have seen this movie before.