John Malkovich had one very specific reason to turn Marvel down before ‘Fantastic Four’

It’s an open secret that the biggest reason most actors go anywhere near Marvel at this stage is the paycheck, but we appreciate John Malkovich‘s honesty, nevertheless.

The actor didn’t hold out in a recent interview with GQ as he discussed his involvement in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the group known as the comic book franchise’s “First Family.”

Malkovich will be sharing the screen with Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as a currently undisclosed character, though rumors suggest he’s taking on a rather peculiar ape-decked villain.

Unlike other actors or directors, fresh and seasoned, who have ghosted Marvel for not being sophisticated enough, like a himbo situationship you flirt with but never introduce to your friends, the twice Oscar-nominated actor had no qualms about “artistic considerations.” For the 71-year-old, the bottom line was the bottom line.

“I didn’t like the deals they made, at all,” he told the publication, adding, “These films are quite grueling to make…. If you’re going to hang from a crane in front of a green screen for six months, pay me.”

This can’t be a surprising take, considering a large chunk of the usually bloated budgets of IP blockbuster films is always reserved for the cast’s millionaire paydays. Within Marvel, the current record is held by the father of the franchise, Robert Downey Jr., who’ll reportedly be paid $50 million a piece for his Avengers double-bill (and that’s excluding box office bonuses).

Another actor closer to Malkovich’s generation recently mirrored his nonchalance around money talk. Harrison Ford, who plays a president-turned-Red-Hulk in the tepid fourth Captain America movie that just came out, told MTV’s Josh Horowitz that it was his salary that eased the ridicule of playing a big red CGI monster.

“That’s what the money is for,” was Ford’s answer to Horowitz’s question about how easily he could silence the part of his brain that said, “I look like an idiot.” Though he did make sure to add that this approach doesn’t mean he’ll take money for anything.

Long gone are the days when playing a Marvel character represented realizing a childhood dream, or even the chance to contribute to movie history as a part of its biggest ever franchise. Also long gone, however, are the days when Marvel movies successfully combined entertainment with any kind of worthwhile storytelling, so the shift is entirely justified. Booking a Marvel film in the late 2010s would make you a movie star, now it has the potential to embarrass you and your acting chops with endless rewriters, reshoots, and patched-up final cuts. Why take the chance if not for a well-rounded check?

As Malkovich puts it, “You don’t want to pay me, it’s cool, but then I don’t want to do it, because I’d rather be onstage, or be directing a play, or doing something else.” With praise this enthusiastic, you would think the actor was trying to get people to not watch Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Luckily for Kevin Feige, despite the painful decline of Marvel’s image, the film still seems to be highly anticipated by fans. It hits theaters July 25, 2025, and for the sake of the few Marvel loyalists left, let’s hope at least a couple of people involved treated it as something other than a cash grab.