Not much from the production of Fantastic Four: First Steps has made its way online, and while I’m not exactly complaining about that it is a sharp contrast from past Marvel movies that tend to over-saturate fans in marketing. We know that the movie has recently wrapped filming and so far we’ve seen some official images of the cast in their suits, but not much else. Well that has changed with a new video that was posted to X, showing some urban explorers finding their way onto the UK based Marvel set and giving us a first look at a location that we weren’t sure would be featured prominently in the movie or not: Subterranea. What makes this video so crazy is not the location itself, but the implication that they will be going up against the wacky villain that lives in subterranea: Mole Man.
Thanks to some pamphlets handed out at this year’s San Diego Comic Con, we already know that subterranea exists in this movie:
Aside from the location itself, the more noteworthy detail about the location’s inclusion is actually the villain who lives there, Mole Man. The character was the first villain the team fought in the Fantastic Four #1 comic book, so it makes sense that they honor that lore in the live action movie. Good decisions. The villain himself is a little out there and one of the more wacky concepts for a comic book character, but Marvel should be embracing its roots. This whole concept has Batroc The Leaper intro vibes from Captain America: Winter Solider, and if you have been around the MCU for a while you know that’s a very good thing.
The villain acted as a recurring villain in the comics and led an army of ‘Moloids’, human/mole hybrids from his subterranean kingdom. It’s thought that actor Emmy award winning Paul Walter Hauser will be playing the character based on comments he has made in the past during interviews, but that has not been confirmed yet. The new video (leaked to X) seems to all but confirm the rumors.
The video in question was posted to the social media platform by user @UnBoxPHD and can be seen from a YouTube clip here:
The video shows a couple urban explorers in the UK coming onto the set at night. We see a couple set pieces like a bus, and then they make their way into what looks like a set of a large cavern – subterranea. It’s hard to tell exactly what they’re looking at without context but once you put all the clues together it becomes apparent that it’s the underground lair of Mole Man.
With villains like Galactus and Doctor Doom down the Fantastic Four’s pipeline, it’ll be interesting to see them take on such a basic, ground level villain in comparison. I can only imagine Mole Man will be a first act easy victory to help establish the team, but who knows, we might be in for some real surprises with this movie.
Fantastic Four: First Steps stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, with Julia Garner as the Silver Surfer, Ralph Ineson as Galactus, and presumably Robert Downy Jr. in there somewhere as Doctor Doom. The movie comes to theaters on July 25th, 2025 and you can keep checking back with us for the all the latest updates.