The Fantastic Four: First Steps has seen a villain end up on the cutting room floor as a starry cameo didn't make the final version.
The upcoming movie on Marvel's First Family is set years into the quartet's superhero lives, meaning that some of their early endeavours couldn't be included in the final cut.
As Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) and Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) gear up to welcome their first child, with Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and Ben 'The Thing' Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as proud uncles, they are also fighting villain Galactus (Ralph Ineson).
As the focus is on this new big baddie, Ivan Kragoff aka Red Ghost, played by John Malkovich, had to go.
"There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor," director Matt Shakman told Variety.
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"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."
For Shakman, cutting Red Ghost, who briefly appeared in the original teaser for the film, was personally difficult due to his admiration for Malkovich.
Related: The Fantastic Four: First Steps runtime confirms it as one of the shortest MCU movies ever
The filmmaker previously worked with the star on his directorial debut, 2014's crime thriller Cut Bank.
"It was heartbreaking not to include him in the final version of [First Steps] because he's one of my very favourite humans and one of my biggest inspirations," the director said, adding that Malkovich was "brilliant" in the Marvel film, "and gave it his all".
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released in cinemas on 25 July.
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Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).
