Matt Shakman, director of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, has discussed the swathe of deleted scenes that audiences got only brief glimpses of in the film’s final version.
Clocking in at under two hours, The Fantastic Four is one of the MCU’s shorter entries — although, as fans are well aware, this was not originally the case. Entire sequences were shot and then removed from the movie’s final edit, most of which were focused on the team’s backstory and early years.
The most notable cut was the removal of John Malkovich’s Red Ghost — intended to be an early antagonist of The Fantastic Four, alongside his army of Super-Apes. Now, the character is simply referenced by name only, with one Super-Ape seen in a montage. The character of Mole Man would also have seen more screen time, with Sue Storm actress Vanessa Kirby previously discussing a scene that would have better established their relationship.
Now, Shakman has discussed some of the film’s other scenes that were “intentionally” shot but largely ended up on the cutting room floor, with at most a glimpse of them included in the film’s early montages.
“We intentionally wrote and shot a lot more than we ended up using, or needing to use, for their past,” Shakman told Collider. “There’s a ton of stuff that you’ve seen probably bits and pieces of — a tour of the Baxter building, or Reed’s Mr. Fantastic Show, or even Ben on the dating game.
“We shot all these things ’cause we knew we needed to build a big world and we needed to explain what they’ve been doing for four years,” Shakman continued, “because our movie started four years after that. And we ultimately didn’t — couldn’t use all of it. But knowing we had more was helpful.”
So why were these filmed? It sounds like earlier plans for The Fantastic Four involved a heavier focus on providing a backstory for the team, in lieu of the whole film being an origin story. As the editing process continued, however, this was clearly slimmed down to get to the movie’s main Galactus plotline faster.
“We were doing some things that were tricky, we were skipping an origin story but also trying to give you all the information you needed to know to understand who these characters were,” Shakman said. “Which means that those traditional structural ticking clocks had to get pushed a little bit. Like, when is it too late to introduce the Silver Surfer? How far can I push that before we bring in what the major threat of the movie is? How long can we spend getting to know and love these characters in their environment? How much is too much? You never know until you start to put it together and feel it out for yourself.”
“There was a ton of stuff we shot that was really wonderful that we didn’t use, couldn’t use,” he concluded. “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.”
Could any of these scenes still see the light of day? It doesn’t sound likely. Despite calls from fans, Shakman has said a The Fantastic Four: First Steps director’s cut is “not possible”.
Regardless of the cuts, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has had a strong box office opening — though it remains to be seen how well the movie continues to perform over the coming weeks. In the meantime, Kirby has been discussing the film’s revelatory mid-credit scene that ties into Avengers: Doomsday.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
