Fantastic Four director says it was "heartbreaking" to cut John Malkovich’s Red Ghost from the film, but there were too many characters and a “whole other universe" to introduce: "It just became too much backstory”

Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman says there was just too much going on in the film to make room for John Malkovich's Red Ghost, despite having already filmed his scenes.

"John did an amazing job. He's a fantastic actor. He is one of my favorite people, and he's brilliant in the movie," Shakman told Entertainment Weekly. "It just was such a heartbreaking thing to have to eliminate that section, but we had so much to introduce. We had so many characters to introduce this whole world, this whole other universe, and it just became too much backstory."

In the first five minutes of the film, while Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) recounts the team's many victories, we see him fighting off one of Ivan Kragoff's Red Ghost's Super-Apes on a tower in New York City. While we don't see him, he does get mentioned by Reed as being one of several deep-cut comic book villains that the Fantastic Four successfully fought off.

It's some cruel-ish irony given that there were a few other instances where Malkovich either turned down an offer to play a Marvel Villain, or accepted the role and the movie was ultimately cancelled (namely Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4; he was slated to play Vulture). It looks like joining the MCU might just not be in the cards for Malkovich.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scenes, or our Fantastic Four: First Steps review for our full verdict.