John Malkovich’s Red Ghost Cut from Fantastic Four: First Steps

John Malkovich's role as the villainous Red Ghost has been entirely cut from Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps, despite being featured in early teasers and having filmed scenes at the beginning of the movie. Director Matt Shakman explained that the decision was made to balance the film's many elements, including introducing the four main characters, various villains, and other storylines, which required trimming significant content to shape the final 115-minute cut. Shakman expressed heartbreak over the removal, highlighting Malkovich as a major inspiration and praising his performance and contributions to theater and film. The Red Ghost character, a niche villain from the comics who gains powers through cosmic rays along with his super-apes, was originally intended to appear in a sequence depicting the Fantastic Four's early battles. While Malkovich's scenes won't appear in theaters, there is hope they might be included as special features in home releases. This removal marks another instance where Malkovich was cut from a Marvel Comics adaptation, as he was once slated to play The Vulture in a scrapped Spider-Man project.