After almost seventeen years after the conception of the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline of flicks, fans finally got The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the first MCU movie featuring Marvel’s First Family. While the 2025 movie release has been getting good reviews, it’s hard not to feel a bit let down about some elements we didn’t see in the film. For example, John Malkovich was teased in the trailer but didn’t make it to the final cut. The movie's director is now opening up about how “heartbreaking” it was to remove the legendary actor from the final cut.
The impressive cast of Fantastic Four originally included John Malkovich, who was tapped for a secret role that turned out to be the supervillain Red Ghost. During a recent press event in Los Angeles, director Matt Shakman shared with Elite Daily that juggling all the different elements in this new Marvel movie was quite the challenge. Shakman talked about how tricky it was to keep everything managed with so much going on, saying:
There was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie, and some things had to go. It's heartbreaking not to have him in the final movie. He's brilliant, and the work that he did in this movie was extraordinary.
Despite the deletion of Malkovich's Red Ghost, some fans still might wonder if a director's cut is in the cards. If you’re hoping to catch that scene in such a cut or via an individual scene release, you might want to lower your expectations. It wouldn't actually be possible for Matt Shakman and co. to release that footage and, as the filmmaker explained, there are VFX-related reasons for that:
There are so many visual effects involved that those scenes remain unfinished, so that’s not possible.
But, fret not, because there is still the possibility that we could see Malkovich return in a future FF installment or Marvel project. When pressed, the director added:
He's one of my favorite actors, one of my favorite people, and he really crushed it. So yeah, I hope so.
John Malkovich’s scenes were reportedly in the movie early on, as they helped cover the first family’s superhero beginnings. This sequence shows the team of superheroes taking on the Red Ghost and his crew of Super-Apes, which might explain all the unfinished visual effects the filmmaker talked about.
Shakman's decision to cut certain scenes, such as Malkovich’s portrayal of the Red Ghost, makes a lot of sense, especially given that the filmmakers were working with a large cast. The film features Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, and Ralph Ineson as Galactus. This extensive lineup made the filmmakers realize that including another villain would not align well with the overall story.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps opened in theaters on July 25. So be sure to check your local listings for showtimes and to see what other major new superhero movies are headed to a theater near you. Those who want more MCU action and other classic FF films can also stream those with a Disney+ subscription.
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