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A leak about Paul Walter Hauser’s role in The Fantastic Four: First Steps is making the rounds on social media. The source isn’t all-too-surprising when it comes down to it.
Even the most novice of filmgoers knows that Marvel Studios needs The Fantastic Four: First Steps to be a big hit. The MCU has been on a steady decline since the peak of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, and 2025 has been no different in that regard. First, Captain America: Brave New World was released to middling reviews from fans and critics before ultimately disappointing at the box office by making a relatively scant $415 million worldwide. Then Thunderbolts* was released a few months later to a substantially more positive reception, but managed to make even less money than Brave New World did. Throw these last two films together with other MCU strikeouts from the past few years, whether they be critical failures (Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Secret Invasion) or commercial ones (The Marvels), and you’ve got a recipe for franchise collapse. Marvel needs First Steps to hit and hit in a very big way.
As such, Marvel’s resident casting genius Sarah Halley Finn pulled out all the stops for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In addition to casting Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn in the lead roles, Finn brought Julia Garner, Ralph Ineson, Natasha Lyonne, John Malkovich, Mark Gatiss, and Paul Walker Hauser on board for various roles. An upcoming tie-in comic from Marvel has leaked, and it shows who the Emmy-winning Hauser will ultimately be playing in the film: the Mole Man.
Paul Walter Hauser Is Seemingly Playing The Mole Man In The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Assuming the leak is accurate and Hauser is playing the Mole Man, what perfect casting this could turn out to be. There are few character actors working in Hollywood today as beloved as Paul Walter Hauser. As he has shown in everything from I, Tonya and Richard Jewell to Cobra Kai and Black Bird, Hauser is a chameleon who is comfortable stealing scenes both comedic and dramatic. It’s clear that Galactus is going to take the majority of the screentime and dramatic heft when it comes to villainy in First Steps, but the Mole Man has been around just as long as Marvel’s first family.
Yes, Harvey Rupert Elder (aka the Mole Man) made his debut alongside the Richards family in 1961’s Fantastic Four #1. Over the years, Elder has made hundreds of appearances in Marvel Comics and is a constant pain in the Fantastic family’s side, along with his creepy sidekicks called the Moloids. The Mole Man has made such a lasting impact on comic fans, he was even given a nice shout-out in The Incredibles series in the form of the not-so-subtle homage character the Underminer.
Time will tell if The Fantastic Four: First Steps is the hit Marvel needs it to be, but having Hauser in the project as the Mole Man means the flick can’t be all bad, right?
Source: X/Spider-Fan77
