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You'll recall Popverse reporting a few months ago that John Malkovich had been cast in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. As of this writing, we still don't know for certain who Malkovich's character will be (though the internet is aswirl with rumors), but after Marvel debuted the first trailer for the film, we're suddenly betting that his character will be quite important to the plot.

Let us explain.

First of all, if you haven't already watched Marvel Studios' first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, go ahead and do that now. You'll see very, very little in regards to the plot (the way I like my trailers, personally), in fact, you'll only catch a glimpse of the reported antagonist of the film, Galactus. And even then, you won't see the world-devourer's actual face. So our question is - why does the trailer spend precious time on a closeup of John Malkovich's character?

We could certainly be reading into this, we know (it tends to happen on trailer-release days, sue us), but our guess is that Malkovich showing up in the trailer means something. Consider all we didn't see yet - Silver Surfer, or even Natasha Lyonne's mystery character. Hell, as your pal and mine Trent Cannon pointed out, we didn't even see Reed Richards using his powers yet. So why did this trailer go Whole Malk? 

It's not an issue of his scenes being filmed before everyone else's and thus usable for the trailer - we know that filming has wrapped on First Steps as of November 30, 2024. The only option we figure we're left with is that, once the movie hits theaters, we'll not only find out who Malkovich is playing, but that that character is vital to this first chapter of the MCU's newest universe.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (starring, it seems, John Malkovich) hits theaters July 25, 2025.

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters