Speaking with Variety about Malkovich's scenes being cut from the film, director Matt Shakman noted that the two-time Academy Award nominee “was brilliant in it and gave it his all" as baddie Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost. But at the end of the day, “There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor,” said Shakman, 49.

The Red Ghost has escaped! Actor John Malkovich will no longer appear in Marvel Studios' "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" as Ivan Kragoff, aka the Red Ghost, one of the earliest villains to battle the superhero quartet in the comics.

First Steps. The 71-year-old actor was set to appear in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) blockbuster as villain Ivan Kragoff/Red Ghost but director Matt Shakman has revealed that his scenes didn't make the final cut as they didn't fit in with the story — which features Pedro Pascal,