John Malkovich reveals why he's always turned down Marvel until Fantastic Four role

John Malkovich has spent years turning down Marvel roles.

The 71-year-old actor will make his MCU debut this summer in 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps', but he has revealed he's snubbed the franchise several times in the past.

He told GQ magazine: "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. 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.

"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.”

However, Malkovich - who took the role because he wanted to collaborate with 'Cut Bank' director Matt Shaman again - was surprised by the similarities between a Marvel production and being on stage.

He added: "It’s not that dissimilar to doing theater. You imagine a bunch of stuff that isn’t there and do your little play.”

He even suggested one of his most demanding roles was playing Dr. Octavius Brine in 2014's 'Penguins of Madagascar'.

He said: "One of the hardest things I’ve ever done was a film called 'Penguins of Madagascar', a children’s film where I played an octopus.

“And I must have recorded the entire thing, every line; at least a thousand variations of every line.

"I never understood why it never occurred to them to maybe have a different line. And I did mention that more than occasionally."

While he doesn't regret taking the role, he wishes he'd negotiated a better deal for his involvement.

He added: "I didn’t really make any money for it at all, but it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it again. I would have a very different contract at this time.”

Malkovich's role is being kept under wraps, although he made a very brief appearance as a bearded character in a teaser trailer earlier this month.

Comic book fans think he will be playing Ivan Kragoff, a former Soviet scientist also known as Red Ghost.

The villain has a keen interested in space travel, and wants to replicate the accident that resulted in the Fantastic Four getting their powers.

The movie will see Pedro Pascal, Joseph Quinn, Vanessa Kirby and Ebon Moss-Bachrach playing the titular superheroes, with Ralph Ineson starring as Galactus alongside Julia Garner as the SIlver Surfer.

Natasha Lyonne, Sarah Niles and Paul Walter Hauser are also part of the cast.

A handful of fan theories about the plot have been confirmed by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, 51, who previously told ‘The Official Marvel Podcast’: “‘The Fantastic Four’ will be a period piece set in New York City.

“However, it’s probably not the New York City many are familiar with.

“There was another piece of art we released with Johnny Storm flying in the air making a ‘4’ symbol and there was a cityscape in the corner of that image.

“There were a lot of smart people who noticed that that cityscape didn’t look exactly like the New York that we know, or the New York that existed in the ‘60s in our world.

“Those are smart observations, I’ll say.”