Ralph Ineson’s MCU debut as Galactus in Fantastic Four: First Steps was epic to say the least, but it was far from the first time audiences have enjoyed Ineson’s ‘villainous’ presence on their screens. The actor also played Chris Finch in the original UK version of The Office. While Finchy is a more down-to-earth character than Galactus, Ineson himself has made direct comparisons between Chris Finch and Galactus.
In an interview with Empire, Ineson reveals that he thinks The Office‘s Finch is actually worse than the planet-eating Galactus, explaining that the world-eater can’t really be defined as ‘evil,’ but “Finchy is a proper c**t.” Ineson offers a similar perspective in an interview with The Guardian, highlighting the crucial difference:
Ralph Ineson: “At least Galactus simply exists, he’s a cosmic force. He doesn’t do it out of malice. You can’t really get much worse than Chris Finch.”
For fans unfamiliar with the original UK Office (but who have seen the US remake), Chris Finch was the template for Todd Packer, complete with his own brand of inappropriate comments, deplorable behavior, and downright mean-spirited nature.
Obviously, Ineson believes Chris Finch is so bad that he’s even worse than a cosmic entity who literally eats planets and kills trillions just to survive. In other words, that kind of comparison requires further analysis, especially when it comes to all the ways Finchy and Galactus are the same.
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Galactus and Finchy Are Both Horrible To Work With
As made crystal clear throughout The Office, Chris Finch is an absolute nightmare to work with. He’s incredibly disrespectful to practically everyone around him, and he’s just generally a pretty bad person. In fact, one of the highlights of the series is when Ricky Gervais’ David Brent (the template for the US Office‘s Michael Scott) finally tells Finchy to, “F**k off“.
All-in-all, it’s made pretty clear that Chris Finch would be a terrible coworker, and the same can be said about Galactus. While there’s no shortage of examples to pull from when proving that Galactus would be horrible to work with, one standout moment comes from Silver Surfer #48 by Jim Starlin and Ron Lim.
In the issue, it’s revealed that an aspect of being Galactus’ herald is the overwhelming feeling of guilt for all those killed by Galactus. The comic shows Silver Surfer drowning in an ocean of blood that he helped Galactus spill. Bad day at the office indeed.
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Galactus and Finchy Can Both Throw A Kettle Over A Building
While this might seem like a weirdly specific example, it’s actually a hilarious plot point in one episode of The Office. In The Office episode titled “The Quiz”, Finchy says that if the trivia game had been a throwing contest instead, then he would have beaten his competition without any trouble. Finch brags that he once threw a kettle over a building, and he proves that he’s capable of doing just that by throwing a shoe over the pub where the office had their trivia night.
Due to Galactus’ sheer size, including and especially as he’s shown in Fantastic Four: First Steps where he’s as tall as a skyscraper, it stands to reason that the Devourer of Worlds could easily throw a kettle over a building. He doesn’t even need to prove that he can by throwing a shoe the way Finchy did, as Galactus threw the Thing into space like it was nothing in Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The two characters may have their differences, but when it comes to throwing kettles (or shoes) over a building, Finchy and Galactus are equally matched.
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Galactus And Finchy Are Both Absolute Geniuses
The Office‘s David Brent claims that Chris Finch has an IQ of 142, stating that Finchy reads a book a week to make the point. For reference, anything above an IQ of 140 is considered genius level, which means Chris Finch (if David is to be believed) is firmly in the ‘genius’ category. Similarly, Galactus is an established genius in the Marvel Universe.
In Fantastic Four #210 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne, the Fantastic Four board Galactus’ ship, only to find the Devourer of Worlds performing experiments more complex than Reed Richards could even comprehend. This is the same Reed Richards who invented a portal to other universes and who regularly outwits cosmic powerhouses.
Yet even Reed couldn’t wrap his mind around the complexities of Galactus’ intelligence, confirming just how smart Galactus truly is.
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Galactus And Finchy Both Do Plenty of Traveling
Like his American counterpart, Todd Packer, Chris Finch is a traveling sales rep in The Office. Finchy’s job is quite literally traveling from place to place on behalf of the company he works for. One could even say that traveling is how Finchy survives, as doing so ensures his employment, which means he has money to live. Funny enough, Galactus travels for a very similar reason.
As explained in both Marvel Comics and the MCU’s Fantastic Four: First Steps, Galactus’ cosmic purpose is to travel across the universe from planet to planet, consuming worlds wherever he goes. Galactus must do this to feed his endless hunger and survive.
It’s no different from traveling for work, since gainful employment keeps food on the table for people like Chris Finch just as consuming planets does for Galactus.
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Galactus and Chris Finch Look Eerily Similar
While decidedly despicable underneath, Chris Finch looks like an everyday working guy. Finchy’s the kind of person one would see stuck in traffic or walking around town, which is why it’s so incredible that someone like Finch is a dead ringer for a cosmic entity like Galactus. Truly, the live-action version of Galactus and The Office‘s Chris Finch look exactly alike!
In all seriousness, this similarity isn’t anything too shocking since both Chris Finch and Galactus are played by the same actor, Ralph Ineson. Though it should be mentioned that Galactus doesn’t always look like a human in a mechanical suit. Galactus’ form changes depending on the species of life form that looks at him. Galactus looks like a human to humans because humans are the ones perceiving him.
And, in this case, the human form Galactus takes looks eerily similar to The Office‘s Chris Finch, which is just one of the many ways Ralph Ineson’s two characters are the same.
Sources: Empire, The Guardian
