When The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens next week, it will be missing one key supervillain. Director Matt Shakman confirmed to Variety that John Malkovich, who was set to play Red Ghost in the Marvel film, won’t appear in the final cut. Disappointing news, for sure, but there’s hope we’ll get to see his performance in deleted scenes.
Shakman said, “There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room. 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.”
The scene would’ve been a flashback featuring Red Ghost and his army of Super-Apes, but ultimately it didn’t fit with the flow of the film.
Fortunately, another key Fantastic Four villain is sticking around. USA Today has revealed the first look at Paul Walter Hauser as Mole Man, ruler of the underground kingdom of Subterranea. The image shows Hauser decked out in Mole Man’s familiar green outfit and peculiar protective glasses.
Shakman and Hauser talked about this version of the character, which they describe as a “union boss.” He sounds more like the classic interpretation which is less of a baddie than the protector of his people.
“He is living sort of in the shadows like a villain would, but he’s also taking care of an entire race of people and trying to live his life without being bothered,” Hauser explained, noting that his opposition to the Fantastic Four is political in nature. “It’s a power struggle, but within that, there are compromises and alliances made.”
The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in theaters on July 25th.
