Fantastic Four director says there "was never anything I had to fight [Marvel] for" after confirming all deleted scenes were removed for the "greater good"

Fantastic Four director Matt Shakman has talked about the movie's cut scenes – and he's of the opinion that it was all for the best.

Soon after release, MCU fans noticed that a fair amount seems to have been cut from the Marvel Phase 6 movie, while the news that John Malkovich's villain had also been removed from the film broke before The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrived.

"By the time you end up cutting it, you're doing it for a reason," Shakman told Collider. "You're looking at the larger picture, and you're able to make those cuts, because they make sense. And, ultimately, you know it's for the greater good. It's always, in the post process, hard to – you know, the forest and the trees, right? You have to constantly think about the bigger picture. This cast is amazing, and all of the supporting cast is amazing, and the work of the design team, and cinematography, these are tons of great scenes that would be wonderful to have in the film, but ultimately, just didn't contribute to the best possible narrative."

Plus, it sounds like the production went smoothly with Marvel, too. "No, [there] was never anything I had to fight for," Shakman added. "That's a great thing about Marvel. I feel like we're all making the same movie, working really hard to tell the same story. It was clear what we were trying to tell from the beginning."

We'll next see the Fantastic Four in Avengers: Doomsday, which arrives next December. Next up for Marvel is Eyes of Wakanda, which hits Disney Plus this August 1.

While you wait, check out our guide to the Fantastic Four: First Steps post-credits scenes, or our Fantastic Four: First Steps review for our full verdict.