When it was announced that Paul Walter Hauser had joined the cast of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, fans immediately began to speculate that he might be playing the first foe the team ever faced on the page, Mole Man.
Now, USA Today has made it official with a first look at the Black Bird actor as the subterranean villain - although it sounds like he won't actually be a full-blown bad guy in this movie.
“He is living sort of in the shadows like a villain would, but he's also taking care of an entire race of people and trying to live his life without being bothered,” Hauser says of his character.
It seems Harvey Elder's beef with Marvel First Family will be political in nature.
“It's a power struggle, but within that, there are compromises and alliances made.” adds director Matt Shakman: “He's all about community, and that's why Sue and Harvey have a good relationship and they get along. They understand each other.”
Get your first look at Hauser as a (fairly) comic-accurate Mole Man at the link below.
First Steps stars Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, Freaky Tales) as Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, and Julia Garner (Wolf Man, Ozark) as the Silver Surfer.
Natasha Lyonne is also on board in an undisclosed role, but we recently learned that John Malkovich's Red Ghost has been cut from the movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
Matt Shakman directs The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.