Fantastic Four Director Confirms These 3 Marvel Villains Could Return In The MCU

The director of Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps teased that a trio of exciting villains may return to the MCU in a future project. The Fantastic Four brought one of the most powerful villains in Marvel history to life through Ralph Ineson’s Galactus (along with Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer). Additionally, the team took on their share of lower-level antagonists before Galactus, whose time in the MCU may not be over yet.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman confirmed the chance for future appearances in the MCU for three villains: Red Ghost (and his Super-Apes), the Mad Thinker, and the Puppet Master. The MCU's first Phase 6 movie kicked off with a montage of the team fighting various villains, notably including one of the Red Ghost's Super-Apes. While they did not play big roles in the rest of the film, they may not be off the table for the future.

Shakman told Entertainment Weekly that these villains are "great characters," proclaiming that "they certainly could come back" in upcoming projects.

He later spoke on John Malkovich's cut role as the Red Ghost, saying he "did an amazing job" and calling it "heartbreaking" to cut him from the movie. With "so many characters to introduce" in the new movie, Shakman explained that there was too much set-up and backstory that could not be kept in the story:

"John did an amazing job. He's a fantastic actor. He is one of my favorite people, and he's brilliant in the movie. It just was such a heartbreaking thing to have to eliminate that section, but we had so much to introduce. We had so many characters to introduce this whole world, this whole other universe, and it just became too much backstory."

Furthermore, he went on to look at the team's history of villains in the comics, saying how there are "so many great villains and...characters" in the comics that he hopes to see utilized after The Fantastic Four:

"There are so many great villains and so many great characters in the Fantastic Four [comics], and there are hopefully other opportunities down the road to include them," he says.

Marking Marvel Studios' final 2025 movie, The Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the titular quartet. Set four years into their tenure as heroes, the group learns about Galactus' quest to destroy their planet, leading to a crisis situation that they have to fix as a family. The Fantastic Four: First Steps is now playing in theaters worldwide.

Will Nixed Fantastic Four Villains Return in Future MCU Project?

Warning - the rest of this article contains minor spoilers for The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Looking to the Fantastic Four's future, the team certainly has plenty of opportunities to face villains that did not get as much shine in their first MCU solo movie. While the immediate concern is where the team goes in Avengers: Doomsday, their next confirmed appearance, the team is expected to be one of the key focuses for Marvel Studios after the Multiverse Saga.

The most likely place for these villains to pop up would be in a potential Fantastic Four sequel, which has not officially been greenlit or announced. This would also depend on whether the team stays in their own universe for an extended period of time, especially considering they will likely cross over with Earth-616 in Doomsday.

Additionally, even if Earth-828 winds up being lost before Phase 6 ends, the team could still face multiversal variants of their classic villains, even those shown in this movie's early montage. Particularly with John Malkovich's role being completely cut, Marvel now has leeway to adjust his character however they choose if they want to bring him back.

For now, however, fans will have to wait to see what Marvel Studios does with this highly anticipated team as they get acquainted with their new settings within the MCU.