The Fantastic Four: First Steps Director's Cut 'Not Possible', Matt Shakman Says, So Don't Expect to See John Malkovich's Red Ghost Any Time Soon

Marvel fans won't get to ticker an extended mentation of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, manager Matt Shakman has said, contempt calls from fans for a longer edit of the movie with its chopped scenes restored.

It's nary concealed that the mentation of The Fantastic Four: First Steps presently playing successful theaters is 1 that's shorter than primitively planned.

Shortly earlier the film's release, Shakman confirmed that the legendary histrion John Malkovich had been ditched entirely, portion Sue Storm histrion Vanessa Kirby has present discussed immoderate of her interactions with Paul Walter Hauser's Mole Man that were besides near connected the cutting country floor.

In response, fans person begun calling for The Fantastic Four to get a Snyder Cut-style "Shakman Cut", with John Malkovich's Red Ghost quality backmost successful the film. (One little notation of Red Ghost inactive remains, and we spot 1 of his evil Super-Apes successful a montage, but that's astir it.)

However, Shakman has present said that a director's chopped is not going to hap — and fixed his ain crushed why.

"There are truthful galore ocular effects progressive that those scenes stay unfinished, truthful that’s not possible," Shakman told EliteDaily. "There was a batch of worldly to equilibrium successful this movie, and immoderate things had to go."

That's contempt Shakman going connected to picture the nonaccomplishment of Malkovich's quality arsenic "heartbreaking", and saying the histrion "really crushed" the role.

Marvel has typically shied distant from offering director's cuts of its movies (though the Sony-distributed Spider-Man: No Way Home did get an Extended Version). Some Marvel movies person featured deleted scenes connected their DVD/Blu-ray release, though Shakman's connection that Malkovich's chopped scenes inactive request effects enactment suggests we whitethorn not spot those there, either.

Some fans person said the cuts are noticable, with references made during Mole Man's little screentime intelligibly referencing a narration built during a now-cut series featuring the quality and Sue Storm, thing that histrion Vanessa Kirby has separately elaborated on.

"There was a enactment wrong a country that isn't successful it anymore with Mole Man – who I perfectly love," Kirby told Variety, saying it would person been a bully acceptable up for Storm's Malice change ego. "I'm truthful excited that we mightiness get to bash much with him if we get to bash immoderate much of this, due to the fact that Paul [Walter Hauser] is amazing. But successful it, she said thing like, 'I could springiness you an aneurysm if I wanted to successful 2 seconds.'

"In the comics, Sue uses that menace rather a lot: 'I could enactment a unit tract successful your encephalon and springiness you an aneurysm. I could enactment an aerial bubble wrong of you and termination you successful an instant.' These powers are besides truly lethal and truly dangerous."

Regardless of the cuts, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has had a beardown container bureau opening — though it remains to beryllium seen however good the movie continues to execute implicit the coming weeks. In the meantime, Kirby has been discussing the film's revelatory mid-credit country that ties into Avengers: Doomsday.

Image credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social