THE FANTASTIC FOUR: Paul Walter Hauser's Villain Role In FIRST STEPS Has Finally Been Officially Revealed

THE FANTASTIC FOUR: Paul Walter Hauser's Villain Role In FIRST STEPS Has Finally Been Officially Revealed

The Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 goes on sale next week, and a leaked panel has revealed which comic book villain actor Paul Walter Hauser will play in the Marvel Studios reboot. Find out more here...

By JoshWilding - Jul 05, 2025 07:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Fantastic Four

Next Wednesday, Marvel Comics will release The Fantastic Four: First Steps #1, a tie-in comic revealing the team's origin story in the MCU. 

We'll also witness their first superhero team-up and, similar to their comic book counterparts, it'll be against Mole Man. The villain will also appear in the movie, but Marvel Studios has kept Harvey Elder—and the actor playing him—under wraps. 

That's not overly surprising as The Fantastic Four: First Steps' supporting cast is mostly a mystery to us; the characters portrayed by Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles are all unknown or uncofirmed as of now (John Malkovich is thought to be Red Ghost, but may or may not appear in the reboot). 

A leaked panel from the upcoming Marvel Studios-approved, canon comic has hit social media today, and it confirms that Hauser is indeed playing the MCU's Mole Man. The Cruella star's likeness has been used for the villain by artist Mark Buckingham, and we'd say this is some great casting on filmmaker Matt Shakman's part.

"I think, from what I’ve seen, and obviously I can’t say much about it, but I will say the short time I was on set, dude, they’re making a cool movie, man," Hauser said of The Fantastic Four: First Steps earlier this year. "This is a smart, chic Marvel movie that really focuses on family as part of the theme. And you really kind of fall in love with those characters, I think."

"And that’s what’s missing is sometimes if you don’t fall in love with these characters, and you keep putting them in peril, we don’t really care," the actor continued, sharing his take on what's hurt recent MCU titles. "You know, you got to make us care first. And I think Marvel’s hopefully getting back to some of that."

We'll be sharing a full breakdown of all The Fantastic Four: First Steps #1's biggest reveals next week, but you can get a glimpse at the team's official origin story in the preview pages we shared earlier this week

How do you feel about Hauser playing the MCU's Mole Man?

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.

Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, Natasha Lyonne, and Sarah Niles have been cast in mystery roles. Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is rumoured to appear, though that's surely a given with Avengers: Doomsday on the way.

Director Matt Shakman worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on The Fantastic Four: First Steps' screenplay, with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) later coming on board for a final polish.

The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.

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AllsGood
AllsGood - 7/5/2025, 8:02 AM
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is going to be Great.

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Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 7/5/2025, 10:31 AM
@AllsGood - DoubleD about to go into meltdown mode when this flops and then go into hiding again. 🤣
AllsGood
AllsGood - 7/5/2025, 10:56 AM
@Feralwookiee - After Marvel Studios Ironheart success Certified Fresh with 87%.

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THEKENDOMAN
THEKENDOMAN - 7/5/2025, 8:13 AM
Paul is a fantastic actor.

He always seems to stand out, no matter how small or big the role is for him.

I’m sure he will do the same as Mole Man.

For [frick]s Sake
AllsGood
AllsGood - 7/5/2025, 8:13 AM
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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2025, 8:26 AM
It's long been rumored that I am disappointed by this news. Mostly due to the fact that Danny DeVito would have been perfect, has been fancast as Mole Man since the '90s and is a Matt Shakman veteran from Always Sunny.

But now I'm officially disappointed.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2025, 8:34 AM
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mountainman
mountainman - 7/5/2025, 9:27 AM
@ObserverIO - DeVito could have been a great Mole Man, but PWH can be a great Mole Man too.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2025, 9:41 AM
@mountainman - Yeah this is true. Okay. Tantrum over. I guess PWH can be in Cobra Kai after all.

I mean FF.
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 7/5/2025, 8:34 AM
Include a photo of the actor next time...
Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 7/5/2025, 9:50 AM
@IAmAHoot - User Comment Image
IAmAHoot
IAmAHoot - 7/5/2025, 11:08 AM
@Wahhvacado - Much obliged; and I did look him up promptly.

I'm just doing Wilding a favor, you know.
FusionWarrior
FusionWarrior - 7/5/2025, 8:36 AM
Well duh.
SuperiorHeckler
SuperiorHeckler - 7/5/2025, 8:45 AM
Josh is just biting at the bit to post his "LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!" article/review for this movie! 😍❤️
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/5/2025, 9:45 AM
Not surprising that PWH is playing Mole Man but still glad to get confirmation regardless…

It was either going to be that or him voicing H.E.R.B.I.E but once we found out that the latter wouldn’t speak in the traditional sense , the former felt like the only option.

Anyway , i’m looking forward to seeing his performance in FF since Hauser has range and can be comedic yet creepy aswell which are both takes that can work for the character!!.
Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 7/5/2025, 9:49 AM
Absolutely fantastic actor, I can see him doing big things. Sounds like he'll be great for Mole Man

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WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 7/5/2025, 10:06 AM
This movie looks horrible, but it'll probably still be better than Supermeh
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 7/5/2025, 10:33 AM
@WalletsClosed - They BOTH look pretty terrible imo.
Both have a very good chance of flopping.
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 7/5/2025, 10:35 AM
@Feralwookiee - What do you think realistic projections are for these movies? Both have a 80% chance of flopping.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 7/5/2025, 10:40 AM
@WalletsClosed - I think FF is definitely flopping with under $500 million worldwide and Loserman will struggle to just barely break even, finishing with around 550-600 million tops.
WalletsClosed
WalletsClosed - 7/5/2025, 10:50 AM
@Feralwookiee - This looks to be the case. Spot on projections
Amuro
Amuro - 7/5/2025, 11:19 AM
I try to anticipate the post-credit scene and how it ties in with Avengers : Doomsday.

The Fantastic Four and Franklin are traveling to space again in their spaceship when, suddenly, a phenomenon happens and they are unable to contact Earth. They are also panicked because Franklin is nowhere to be seen.

On Earth, The New Avengers are seeing the spaceship when, suddenly, Alexei says "Wait ! I know that ship !". He finds some old-school videotapes and adds "That's the ship of the heroes from that very old TV show ! The Fantastic Four ! From the 60's ! I've seen the surviving actors at a convention last year !". And Yelena is all "What the hell is happening ?". Cut to the very first look at Victor von Doom and his magic.
soberchimera
soberchimera - 7/5/2025, 11:32 AM
Mole Man should have been the main villain, not a fun Easter egg/cameo. There was so much to explore with Subterranea, the Moloids, Giganto, the Outcasts, the Tyrannoids, but now all that is going to be condensed to a montage at best. We’re already had several MCU movies in space, a Hollow Earth MCU movie akin to Journey to the Center of the Earth and Pellucidar would have been really cool and different.

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