 With Fantastic Four grossing $ 330 million worldwide , 20th Century Fox hired director Tim Story and screenwriter Mark Frost in December 2005 to return for the superhero team 's sequel . Screenwriters Frost and Don Payne were hired to write the screenplay . Payne has said the film is based upon " The Galactus Trilogy " , in which Galactus also makes an appearance , as well as issues 57 @-@ 60 in which Doom steals the Surfer 's power . Payne has also said the film takes inspiration from the Ultimate Marvel limited series Ultimate Extinction . As of March 2 , 2007 , Galactus 's design was not yet done , and by April 18 , until hiring Laurence Fishburne to perform the voice of the Silver Surfer , the filmmakers were unsure of whether the character would speak . 
