As Marvel Studios is preparing for The Fantastic Four: First Steps to fly to theaters worldwide July 25, a certain actor will not be a part of it.
In a interview with Variety, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman has confirmed that John Malkovich has been cut from the final version of the film.
John Malkovich was confirmed to play one of Fantastic Four’s earliest villains from the comics, Ivan Kragoff a.k.a Red Ghost and appears briefly in the teaser.
If you don’t know who Red Ghost is, he’s a Russian scientist who studied the cosmic rays that gave the quartet heroes their powers and used apes make them have similar powers to the characters.
His first appearance was Fantastic Four issue 13 from January 1963 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
The reason Red Ghost was cut from the movie is that he doesn’t fit full story although his role is very small and his scenes are early in the film where the heroes are fighting him along with other villains.
Matt Shakman and John Malkovich had worked together on a indie film Cut Bank from 2014 were Shakman directed and Malkovich starred in.
Shakman in the interview even confirmed that certain parts of the movie had to be cut in order to focus on the main story but did express disappointment on cutting Malkovich.
“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,” the director said. “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.”
Now keep in mind, this happens a lot in films just like reshoots.
There’s no need to panic and get worried as if something doesn’t work in the main story of the film, certain parts of the film involving the actor doesn’t make it to the final cut.
Will we likely see Red Ghost in a deleted scene or sometime in the future in the MCU? We just have to wait and see.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be flying to theaters everywhere July 25 with tickets available.
Source: Variety
