Emotions are running high for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The most recent installment of the beloved franchise ended up being a truly phenomenal movie that made us feel all of the feels. The MCU is back on track and it's producing banger movies once again to prove it, and that's exactly the kind of energy that the franchise needs heading into Avengers: Doomsday, the first part of the big crossover finale of the Multiverse Saga, which arrives in theaters next year.
Speaking of emotions, that is the movie that will no doubt be making everyone feel everything for it will bring back MCU veteran Robert Downey Jr. as the saga's new villain Doctor Doom. How the Avengers will tackle that wild card remains to be seen, but there's also another important wild card we have to take into account, and it comes in the form of the MCU's newest heroes - who also happen to be among Marvel's most classic characters.
That said, fans are particularly worried that Marvel may have made a major cut to their upcoming debut film... and, as pointed out in recent reports, the evidence is stacking up,
Marvel fans worried John Malkovich's character has been cut from The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Legendary actor John Malkovich made headlines last year when it was revealed that he had joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Fans have since spent a lot of time theorizing over who his mysterious character might be and what kind of role he might play. The latter part of that question might end up being none, for a recent development regarding the movie has left audiences wondering whether Marvel Studios ultimately ended up cutting the character.
The reason for this sudden concern about Malkovich's character stems from a recent press release listed on The Walt Disney Company's website in celebration of the release of the third and final trailer for the upcoming movie, which doesn't feature his name at all among the listed cast. The primary cast are mentioned throughout the release itself, with references to Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Julia Garner, and Ralph Ineson in the film's synopsis. The release then rounds out the cast with the sentence: "The action adventure also stars Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles." No mention of John Malkovich.
So, did the studio ultimately decide against including him in the movie? It would be surprising at this point given that Malkovich's character made a brief appearance in the first trailer for the movie. None of the subsequent trailers, sneak peeks or clips have featured any new footage of him. Now, it's entirely possible that there isn't that much footage of him (rumors have suggested that it's a smaller role), but that paired with the fact that Malkovich's name is absent from the press release's cast list has fans suspicious.
If the character were to be dropped, it could have been in response to test screenings - which often influence how a studio approaches crafting the final version of the film. And given that Thunderbolts* featured a post-credits scene that was filmed just a few weeks before the film was released, no version of an MCU movie is final until it's final. And speaking of Thunderbolts*, one of that movie's trailers featured a sequence of Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes and David Harbour's Red Guardian screaming in unison when they drive the van into the Watchtower (which wasn't in the final edit), and it has now been revealed that this was just actually footage of Stan and Harbour - not finished footage for the movie. So trailer footage is no guarantee that those scenes will make it into the movie.
As for who Malkovich might be playing, speculation has run rampant, with some popular theories suggesting Mole Man or Red Ghost. The latter has proven to be the more popular of the two theories given the character's connection to the Fantastic Four in the comics. If that were to be the case, it would be even more disappointing if he had been cut from the film. Let's hope he still makes an appearance after all.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps arrives in movie theaters on July 25, 2025.