Marvel Studios seemingly went to great lengths to ensure The Fantastic Four: First Steps would clock in at less than 2 hours. However, as with many MCU movies, several scenes were shot that didn't make it into the final cut.
A few of these will likely be included with the eventual Blu-ray release, while others are likely unfinished and will remain forever locked away in Marvel Studios' Burbank-based headquarters.
Reliable leaker @Cryptic4KQual has shared a breakdown of many moments from The Fantastic Four: First Steps that we didn't get to see in theaters (it appears this intel was gleaned from test screenings). For starters, they confirm that the reboot originally opened with the ABC special celebrating Marvel's First Family, not Reed finding out about Sue's pregnancy.
Watching the movie, it's obvious that the sequence was meant to occur before the team's family dinner. As for why Reed needed iodine, the heroes were set to have vanished by the time the curtain opened, so they could go and deal with Red Ghost.
"There was quite a bit more to Red Ghost and his apes," the leaker explains. "Red Ghost set up diversions to keep the [Fantastic Four] away so that he could steal their ship, but Reed figured that out. He hurries back to the Baxter building, where he fights a bunch of the apes and then stops Red Ghost."
Later in the movie, "There was supposed to be a scene of Reed visiting Red Ghost in prison and offering him a work release program, followed by a scene of him and his baboons building one of the teleportation bridges."
Other highlights include Sue visiting Mole Man in Subterranea when he considers starting a revolt, and it's said that his scene in the Baxter Building was added during reshoots. A few dialogue scenes were cut from the team's headquarters, as was an exchange between Galactus and the heroes when he realised they'd laid a trap for him in Times Square.
Another sequence that sounded like a potential highlight saw "Ben [go] out for a night stroll and gets heckled at by some guys who run past him. He later finds H.E.R.B.I.E.'s mangled body in that back alley they ran from. He brings H.E.R.B.I.E. home, and the others are in shock."
So, there's nothing too major, but we definitely lost some cool moments from The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The movie was a critical success, but leaving John Malkovich on the cutting room floor was certainly a choice!
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
Also appearing are Natasha Lyonne as Rachel Rozman, Paul Walter Hauser as Harvey Elder/Mole Man, Sarah Niles as Lynne Nichols, and Mark Gatiss as Ted Gilbert. John Malkovich was set to play Red Ghost, but was cut due to time constraints.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman and Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan & Ian Springer.
The movie is now playing in theaters.