The MCU's Mole Man Revealed in THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Comic
Marvel Studios just dropped an interesting reveal ahead of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and it comes from a tie-in comic. Fantastic Four: First Steps #1, written by Matt Fraction with art by Mark Buckingham, gives fans their first clear look at Paul Walter Hauser’s role in the upcoming film.
Hauser, best known for Richard Jewell and his scene-stealing roles in Cobra Kai and Cruella, is officially playing Harvey Elder, better known to Marvel fans as the Mole Man. But don’t expect a one-to-one adaptation of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 version.
This new Mole Man is less of a mad scientist with a grudge and more… well, revolutionary.
In the original comics, Elder was a disgraced scientist who discovered a hidden world beneath the Earth’s surface, Subterranea, and ruled over it with armies of monsters and mole-like humanoids called Moloids. He wanted revenge on the surface world that laughed him out of academia.
But in this MCU iteration, Hauser’s Elder is reimagined with a more politically charged backstory. The comic reveals he’s a union organizer turned politician, still the leader of Subterranea, but now it's framed as an egalitarian commune of people (and monsters) seeking a better life underground.
His uprising isn’t driven by vengeance, but by desperation. Surface construction threatens the stability of their underground society, and Elder fights back to protect it.
The comic itself plays with 1960s comic nostalgia, packed with retro ads and a Human Torch fan club, but the story grounds itself in the MCU. We see the newly powered FF respond to Elder’s attack on Manhattan in what mirrors their first mission.
Fantastic Four: First Steps #1 hits comic shops on July 9, 2025, and while it functions as an in-universe promo from the Future Foundation, it’s also our clearest window yet into the vibe, politics, and character tweaks Marvel Studios si bringing to story.