The first live-action look at the Mole Man in The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been revealed, and he's "more of a union leader than a supervillain"

Mole Man in Marvel Comics
(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

The Mole Man is the first Fantastic Four comic book villain ever, and he's coming to the big screen in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, played by Paul Walter Hauser. And though Hauser's version of the Mole Man was previously revealed in the official Fantastic Four: First Steps comic, we're now getting our first live-action look at Hauser in the role, and it's only a bit different from the comic version.

Mole Man's live action look was revealed by USA Today in an article that also offers new glimpses of Silver Surfer and Galactus (though not as extensive as the one shown by Hot Toys for their ultra-screen-accurate figure). In the comic, he's shown wearing a three piece suit and a cape as he addresses the UN, begging them to stop underground construction that is damaging his home of Subterranea, an underground city populated by humans.

In the live action version, he wears a tracksuit rather than his formal wear, eschewing the cape as well. You can see Paul Walter Hauser as the Mole Man on the second slide in the gallery below:

Appropriately, The Fantastic Four: First Steps version of Mole Man is less an arch-villain monster-herder (though it seems there are still some monsters involved), and more of a blue collar hero to his own people. He's described as "really more of a union boss than a supervillain" by the film's director Matt Shakman.

In comics, Mole Man was the first villain the FF ever fought all the way back in Fantastic Four #1, taking on the massive subterranean monster Giganto as Mole Man controls it to wreak havoc on the surface world.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters on July 25 to kick off Marvel Phase 6. For more, check out our guides to upcoming Marvel movies and shows and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.

George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)