Fantastic Four: First Steps Makes Us Wish Another Marvel Character Was The Villain Instead

This article contains spoilers for "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" brings Marvel's first family into the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the first time and gives us the best version of the blue-clad superhero team that the big screen has ever seen, thanks to superb performances from Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby (the real MVP), Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn. Of course, that doesn't mean every aspect of the Marvel Studios movie is perfect. In fact, the movie has a major villain problem in the form of the planet-devouring Galactus. 

The Marvel villain, portrayed by "The Witch" star Ralph Ineson, may be too big of a threat for the Fantastic Four to face for their first MCU outing (a symptom of a lot of 2000s-era superhero movies). That's largely why Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) gets to do much of the fighting on behalf of Galactus for the first two acts of the movie, but the nature of such a massive, cosmic villain still creates some struggles for the film's third act. The scenes involving Galactus as a physical threat feel weightless, and the resulting action leaves a lot to be desired. Even the plan to trick Galactus is "Looney Tunes" in nature, and it doesn't feel worthy of a team comprised of brilliant scientists, especially when Reed Richards just figured out how to teleport the entire planet into another universe. 

We can't help but be even more disappointed in the use of Galactus as a villain when there's another fascinating rival hanging around Matt Shakman's superhero movie that proved to be much more interesting in the limited screentime afforded to him in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps."

We're talking, of course, about Paul Walter Hauser as the leader of Subterranea, the one and only Mole Man.

In Marvel comics, Mole Man was actually the first adversary that the Fantastic Four faced. Even in the Earth-828 universe that the Fantastic Four occupy, he's one of their early villains, as recounted in the TV reel montage that introduces us to their exploits since a cosmic accident gave astronauts Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Sue & Johnny Storm superpowers. 

Though Mole Man (real name: Harvey Rupert Elder) was thwarted, he now acts as the leader of the underground society known as Subterreanea, which spans tunnels underneath Earth-828's version of New York City. As played by "BlacKkKlansman" star and "Black Bird" Emmy winner Paul Walter Hauser, Mole Man is a quirky dude, but he's also mostly respectful of the Fantastic Four, despite their previous conflicts. Granted, he can't help but take a jab at Johnny Storm's fashion senses, which is all the more hilarious coming from a guy who always looks like a mix between a miner and a tracksuit mafia man. Plus, when the Fantastic Four need his help sheltering millions of New Yorkers to keep them safe when Galactus arrives, he's willing to acquiesce to their request, but only if Reed Richards asks him personally.

Mole Man's time in "Fantastic Four: First Steps" is limited, but his peculiar personality and ambitions would have made him a fascinating and entertaining threat for the team to face in their first big screen outing. Sure, it's nice that he's part of their history that's already unfolded, but making Mole Man the primary antagonist would have allowed this version of Fantastic Four to do something that the best version of the superhero team never really got to do.

There's no denying that Pixar's animated superhero adventure "The Incredibles" took more than a few inspirations from Marvel's Fantastic Four comics. Not only is the aesthetic tied to classic 1960s comic books, which "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" perfectly utilizes this time, but we've got a family of four superheroes (plus another when Jack-Jack gets his powers), and they must work together in order to stop dangerous supervillains. 

One of those villains is the Underminer, clearly inspired by Mole Man. After popping up at the very end of "The Incredibles," he gives the superhero team a run for their money in the opening sequence of "Incredibles 2." While there's a rousing action sequence that tears through the Incredibles' city of Metroville, the Underminer still isn't given the chance to be the primary villain, as an antagonist known as the Screenslaver becomes the main bad guy.

If "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" would have given Mole Man a larger antagonist role, it might not have had so much trouble constructing a third act that had some weight to it. Imagine having a villain that's a threat for most of the movie but then ultimately ends up living mostly harmoniously with the superhero team in the same city. That's not something that happens very often, since most villains end up being completely obliterated or at the very least imprisoned for a long time. 

By using Mole Man as an antagonist who ultimately compromises with the Fantastic Four, we'd get to see in real time how the superhero team makes their world a better place, not just by fighting villains when necessary, but figuring out what will ultimately help improve society. 

"The Fantastic Four: First Steps" is in theaters now.