The Fantastic Four: First Steps will finally introduce a handful of big names to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but director Matt Shakman says John Malkovich’s Red Ghost won’t be one of them.

Details regarding Malkovich’s removal from the final cut of the new Fantastic Four movie come from an interview Variety conducted with Shakman ahead of the Marvel film’s premiere later this month. He says moments centered on Malkovich’s villain character were some of the many scenes 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,” Shakman said.

Malkovich’s presence as Red Ghost has remained shrouded in mystery for months, but the role wasn’t exactly kept a secret. While fans weren’t quite sure how much screen time the Burn After Reading actor would get in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, he at least appeared sporting long, white hair and a scraggly beard in its first teaser trailer in February. He’s been absent from most promotional material since, though, leading to rumors that Marvel may have moved to cut Malkovich and Red Ghost from the film entirely. Now, we know that this is indeed the case.

“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,” Shakman added. “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.”

Shakman says fans would have been able to catch Malkovich in The Fantastic Four: First Steps during a sequence detailing the early days for Marvel’s First Family. Specifically, the moment involved a battle between the superpowered group as they fought against Red Ghost and his Super-Apes. It’s unclear if we’ll ever get to see how Malkovich almost fit into the MCU, but for now, Shakman at least says that he “was brilliant in it, and gave it his all.”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps has a July 25, 2025, release date and features Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing. Other names set to appear in the film include Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Sarah Niles, Natasha Lyonne, and Paul Walter Hauser.

For more, you can read up on why Tom Holland Spider-Man director Jon Watts ultimately decided to leave the project early on. You can also check out everything we know about Sam Raimi’s canceled Spider-Man 4 movie, which also would have featured Malkovich as an iconic Marvel villain.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).