This weekend, Marvel Studios’ Phase Six officially commenced with Matt Shakman’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), and now the director has spoken out regarding the removal of an A-list actor from the movie.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is rebounding. After a shaky Phase Four, labored by the many Disney+ shows, and the lukewarm end to Phase Five with Captain America: Brave New World (2025) and Thunderbolts* (2025), Phase Six has commenced with a bang. Marvel’s First Family has arrived in Kevin Feige’s Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Anchored by the performances of its titular quartet, The Fantastic Four: First Steps takes audiences to an alternate Earth in a retro-inspired romp through the cosmos. Starring 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/Thing, First Steps also included Julia Garner and Ralph Ineson as the villainous duo Shalla-Bal/The Herald and Galactus, respectively.
The studio has seemingly pulled off the impossible with The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, finally delivering a take on the First Family that fans and critics can agree on. The film launched with an impressive 87% on Rotten Tomatoes and an A– CinemaScore, marking a major comeback after the franchise’s prior missteps. Powered by a retro 1960s design, the movie skips the traditional origin story in favor of a fully-formed superhero team dynamic. Critics have praised its emotional depth and stylish execution, noting it as one of the MCU’s most distinct entries.
On the box office front, First Steps is making significant waves. Thursday night previews alone brought in $24 million—2025’s biggest yet—while Friday pulled in a hefty $57 million, setting it up for a projected $115–135 million domestic debut and a global opening near $200 million.
Despite featuring an already talented cast, which also included Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman and Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, the movie was also set to star a huge A-list name in the form of John Malkovich.
Malkovich was confirmed to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe a while ago and even featured in the early trailers for the 2025 movie. However, just weeks before the movie’s release, it was confirmed that John Malkovich—who was set to play Red Ghost—was left on the cutting room floor. Now, director Matt Shakman has spoken out about the character’s removal from First Steps.
“We wanted to get the sense of history. We wanted these characters to feel lived in. We wanted the city to feel lived in. This is a real family, and they’ve been doing this for four years. Part of that was showing all the things they’ve done along the way,” the WandaVision director told Phase Hero’s Brandon Davis. “Building the Future Foundation, defeating Red Ghost, Mad Thinker, Mole Man…it was part of building the history for them so we could jump in and see them change as a family when a child is introduced.”
On Red Ghost, Shakman explained the scenes ultimately cut from the film.
“We had an opening that involved a lot of action about the Red Ghost,” the director said. “We had an incredible performance from John Malkovich. It was just so much material when we were trying to get to that present-day moment when their world changes and Franklin’s arrival becomes imminent.”
He added, “We had Red Ghost trying to steal a rocket ship with his apes, Reed trying to defeat him, and outwitting him. They had a lot of really fun stuff. We used snippets of it in that montage you see where he’s kicking one of the Super-Apes into the water.”
Watch the interview here:
The Red Ghost—real name Ivan Kragoff—is a Soviet scientist who exposed himself and three apes to cosmic rays to outdo the Fantastic Four. First appearing in “Fantastic Four #13” (1963), Kragoff gained the ability to phase through matter, while his super-powered apes (a strong gorilla, a stretchy orangutan, and a gravity-defying baboon) made up his bizarre Super-Apes team.
Obsessed with communism and scientific superiority, the Red Ghost often clashed with the Fantastic Four as a dark mirror to Reed Richards. While his ideology and antics feel like relics of the Cold War, he still occasionally appears in modern Marvel comics—often as a mix of comic relief and cautionary tale about science gone wrong.
Looking ahead, the Fantastic Four will next appear in Avengers: Doomsday (2026), which was recently pushed back from a May release to a December one. Doomsday‘s place in the holiday corridor, as well as the return of Robert Downey Jr. as Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom, will surely see the Phase Six movie make a smash at the box office. A year later, Avengers Secret Wars (2027) will hit screens. The Russo Brothers are directing both installments.
Ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, though, Tom Holland’s web slinger will return in a reported street-level story. Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) will be released on July 31, 2025, and it will be directed by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021) helmer Destin Daniel Cretton.
How do you feel about John Malkovich being cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
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