THE FANTASTIC FOUR Writer On Cut Mole Man Scene, Changes To Final Galactus Battle, & More - SPOILERS

THE FANTASTIC FOUR Writer On Cut Mole Man Scene, Changes To Final Galactus Battle, & More - SPOILERS

The Fantastic Four: First Steps writer Eric Pearson has shared details on some of the scenes and plot points from his original script that ended up being changed or removed completely...

By MarkCassidy - Aug 09, 2025 11:08 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

Prior to the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, director Matt Shakman revealed that John Malkovich's villainous Red Ghost would no longer appear, and when audiences saw the movie for themselves, it became clear that this was far from the only scene that didn't make the cut.

First Steps has been mostly very well-received, but one consistent criticism from fans and critics has been that the last act feels a little rushed, with pacing issues resulting from the movie being trimmed in order to keep its runtime under 2 hours. 

We've already heard that at least one scene involving Mole Man (Paul Walter Hauser) was cut, and writer Eric Pearson has now shared some more details on this sequence and why it was ultimately removed.

"There’s other scenes of Mole Man," Pearson confirmed to THR. "There was another scene with Sue where she goes down and talks to him about diplomacy, which was super fun and super funny. Movies are a tough stew. Sometimes you’ve got a great scene, and it’s just not the right flavor for the stew. But I was like, 'We can’t go back down there again. Let him come into Reed’s place and touch everything.' That was literally my pitch: 'I want Mole Man to come in.' I probably would’ve gone way too far if I was directing it. I wanted him touching every device like Baby Huey in Roger Rabbit, just going around messing with everything."

Pearson also delved into a change to the final battle, which saw Marvel's First Family lure Galactus to Earth by using baby Franklin as bait. Originally, this showdown played out in space.

"There wasn’t the scale," he said when asked why the location was changed. "I want to see him against the Empire State Building. I want to see the Mets’ Stadium. I want to see him kicking buses and stuff like that. So I was like, 'Let’s bring him down here.' Then it became obvious that we want Reed and Sue there to have some conflict. And the idea of using their child as bait is logical. Yes, it’s also super [frick]ed up. This family has taken on the burden and responsibility of protecting the entire planet and now their only option is to do something that is personally very harmful."

Finally, Pearson reveals Franklin Richards was originally going to be born earlier on in the movie, before he had the idea to have Sue give birth in the midst of the intense space chase scene. I

"In the drafts before, they had the baby in the first act. We moved it to the middle of all of that action. I was worried it was going to feel like too much when it first happened. All the elements — escaping Galactus, the Surfer is after them., they’ve also got to do this neutron star whip-around thing. That’s hard to do. Plus, she’s in labor whole time. I was worried that it was going to take away [from the birth], but it all kind of came together perfectly."

Shakman has already revealed that a lot of the sequences that were cut would require additional VFX to complete, but we'd be very surprised if we didn't see at least a couple of deleted scenes on the Blu-ray release.

First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.

Ralph Ineson plays Galactus, and Natasha Lyonne and Paul Walter Hauser are also on board in undisclosed roles. John Malkovich's Red Ghost has been cut from the movie.

"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."

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now in theaters.

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SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 8/9/2025, 11:20 AM
Other than lumbering through the streets like a Jaeger that couldn't make the cut from PACIFIC RIM, virtually ignoring his Power-Cosmic abilities of ray-beams and concussion-blasts was a let-down. Similar to keeping Ben mostly covered-up, another CGI budget cost-saver perhaps??? (I'm not counting his x-ray vision. It didn't destroy anything.) 👎🏻
Matchesz
Matchesz - 8/9/2025, 11:27 AM
Some of these movies be one corny scene after the next then afterwards after its out they’re just like “yea.. we cut out the interesting stuff, just so yall know what u guys missed..”
Malatrova15
Malatrova15 - 8/9/2025, 11:27 AM
Lol the movie felt like it was gutted, Richards mentioning Wizard , Diablo and Puppet Master and them getting arrested of a camera was a real “the budget is getting real low buddy” moment
GenD
GenD - 8/9/2025, 11:35 AM
If you plan thing out ahead properly then you don’t have to cut so much
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 8/9/2025, 11:53 AM
@GenD - Feige's MCU was always a huge mess made up of unplanned moments they luckily stumbled upon or their great original cast would improvise good ideas.

Once Feige went Marvel Now, and replaced the originals with lesser performers, they great improvisations were gone. No one could save them.
FinnishDude
FinnishDude - 8/9/2025, 12:12 PM
@GenD - Marvel does have not-planning-ahead and trying to figure the movie out during the filming/editing problem, but a lot of movies have ton of deleted scenes, because in creative progress certain parts find their place (or lack of) suprisingly late in the game, no matter how much you plan.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 8/9/2025, 11:44 AM
Personally didn’t feel the third act was a bit rushed but I do think the movie in general needed an extra 10 minutes or so to let it breathe a bit so a scene like the one we saw in the trailers of Ben & Sue would have been nice etc.

I don’t think Mole Man ever had a big role in the film but does seem like there’s atleast a bit more there then what we got even if the material we had was still fun in its own right , I particularly enjoyed his antagonism towards Reed & Johnny but respect for Sue).

Also I’m glad the birth was added to the chase space sequence since it just added to the tension which made it the best action setpiece of the film imo
PartyKiller
PartyKiller - 8/9/2025, 11:50 AM
Galactus' defeat rendered him into just another villain of the week. Marvel is betting it all on RDJ as Doom so they didn't care to build Galactus up. He was defeated easier than CW-DC villains.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/9/2025, 12:01 PM
@PartyKiller - it was horrible
Canyoublush
Canyoublush - 8/9/2025, 12:51 PM
@PartyKiller - I think of it like he was only operating at 50% max power and wasn’t at his fullest potential hence why he needed Franklin to relieve him of his hunger. I never really took Galactus seriously as a cosmic supervillain. I always thought the concept is quite ridiculous actually therefore I’m satisfied with the demise of the character in the film.
McMurdo
McMurdo - 8/9/2025, 12:01 PM
Fantastic Four writer 1 of 4*
tippymcfoo
tippymcfoo - 8/9/2025, 1:02 PM
This movie is a testament to just how much the multiverse wrecked Marvel. They were forced to write Franklin in so he could be a factor in Secret Wars. No multiverse, and I'll bet no Franklin in the first movie (or maybe ever).

The cut time most likely came from the opening montage, which should have been 10 min longer, at least. Instead of saying their names, each of those villains should have gotten some screen time. Come on, we didn't even see the Thing punch anyone.

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