John Malkovich’s Red Ghost Was Cut From ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’

by Justin Hermes · July 20, 2025

While Galactus was also slated to be the main antagonist in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the prevailing notion has been that he is not the only villain who would appear.

In the lead-up to the film’s release, we learned that Paul Walter Hauser will appear in the film as Mole Man, while John Malkovich will portray Red Ghost.

Photo: Marvel

Or, at least, that was the original plan.

Red Ghost Was Cut From ‘The Fantastic Four’

In a new interview with Variety, Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman has revealed that Malkovich’s Red Ghost has been cut from the film.

Source: Deadline

“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.”

The Original Plan

Shakman’s original plan had been to include Red Ghost to appear in a sequence highlighting The Fantastic Four’s early exploits as superheroes.

Photo: Marvel

A glimpse of this scene was even featured in an early trailer. Eventually, however, the decision was made that First Steps had too many characters to introduce and Malkovich was cut.

A Difficult Decision

The decision to remove Malkovich from the film was particularly difficult for Shakman, as the two had previously worked together on the independent thriller Cut Bank. When the film suffered financial setbacks during production, Malkovich remained committed to it.

Photo: The Wrap

“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.”