Fantastic Four: MCU Director Explains Why John Malkovich Was Cut From Movie

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John Malkovich will not be appearing in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in theaters this month. Directed by Matt Shakman, the film stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch.

It was announced in May 2024 that Malkovich had joined the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and, while it was never officially revealed who he was playing, he was seen in one of the trailers for a movie. MCU fans, however, began to wonder if his character had been cut from the movie after The Walt Disney Company’s official website page removed his name from the cast list.

What did Matt Shakman say about John Malkovich and Fantastic Four?

Speaking with Variety, Shakman confirmed that Malkovich has indeed been cut out of The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

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According to Variety, Malkovich played Red Ghost in some of the early scenes of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Shakman said that Malkovich “was brilliant in it, and gave it his all,” but he ultimately realized that his appearance wasn’t “working with the full story.”

“There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor,” Shakman said. “When we were building a ’60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child —there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version.

“…It was heartbreaking not to include him in the final version of the movie because he’s one of my very favorite humans and one of my biggest inspirations. As a person who walks the line between theater and film and television, there’s no one who is more inspiring than the founder of Steppenwolf Theater Company. What he’s done on stage as an actor and what he’s done as a director in theater as well as in film, and as just a film actor of incredible ability — I was honored he came to play.”

Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits United States theaters on July 25, 2025.