Actor John Malkovich Has Been Cut from "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" - Would Have Played Villain Red Ghost
Red Ghost controlled Super-Apes and was one of the Fantastic Four's early adversaries in the comics.
Some disappointing news from Marvel Studios today, as we learned that Oscar-winning actor John Malkovich has had his part as the Red Ghost entirely cut out of the highly anticipated new movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
What’s happening:
- Actor John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire) filmed scenes for The Fantastic Four: First Steps as the villainous Red Ghost, but now the director of the film Matt Shakman has revealed to Variety that the part has been entirely cut from the film.
- Malkovich appeared in one shot of the first teaser trailer for First Steps (viewable below), and fans have been theorizing who he might be playing ever since.
- The Red Ghost and his Super-Apes first appeared as a villain in The Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963) and was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
What they’re saying:
- Director Matt Shakman (via Variety): “There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor. 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."
More Fantastic News:
- The global press tour for The Fantastic Four: First Steps continued in Sydney, Australia yesterday.
- Marvel Studios has been releasing a series of faux magazine covers in promotion of the film.
- A 90-minute video breaking down the six-decade history of the Fantastic Four was released yesterday by Marvel Entertainment.