John Malkovich will make his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in this year’s The Fantastic Four: The First Steps. However, he has revealed that he turned down superhero movies in the past because the money wasn’t good enough.
The actor has appeared in two DC comic book adaptations, Western Jonah Hex and spy movie RED, both released in 2010. He has been linked to several Marvel roles in the past, most notably The Vulture in the fourth Sam Raimi Spider-man film that was eventually cancelled.
Now, in an interview with GQ, he said he had turned down a number of offers from the studio in the past.
“The reason I didn’t do them had nothing to do with any artistic considerations whatsoever. I didn’t like the deals they made, at all” he explained. “These films are quite gruelling to make…. If you’re going to hang from a crane in front of a green screen for six months, pay me. You don’t want to pay me, it’s cool, but then I don’t want to do it, because I’d rather be on stage, or be directing a play, or doing something else”.
Malkovich’s character in The Fantastic Four: First Steps has yet to be named, although his appearance in the trailer has led fans to believe he is playing scientist Ivan Kragoff, aka The Red Ghost. Speaking about his experiences on the blockbuster, he revealed: “It’s not that dissimilar to doing theatre… You imagine a bunch of stuff that isn’t there and do your little play”.
While Malkovich is better known for independent roles like The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading or 2001’s Being John Malkovich, the Oscar nominee has appeared in a variety of movies, theatre productions and commercials. In the interview, Malkovich admitted his prolific schedule is partly a love of working, but also needing the money.
“I’m very bad at business because if I was good at business, I’d be rich,” he explains. “And it’s true that I think it’s a talent, it’s a skill like any other, really, and I don’t have it”.
Malkovich was a victim of the 2008 Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Bernie Madoff, and lost his life savings. Looking back at the incident, he remarked: “Well, of course it’s my fault…It’s my money”.
Recently, Marvel made a statement denying that AI was used to produce the poster for the film, which is in cinemas from July 25.