The Fantastic Four: First Steps released one of its many deleted scenes online, and it could have improved a major villain's role. It's no secret that The Fantastic Four left plenty of scenes on the cutting room floor, with its runtime dropping from record-breaking and fan-pleasing to under two hours in the final weeks before release. This, in turn, meant that some of the movie's smaller villains, such as Paul Walter Hauser's Mole Man and John Malkovich's Red Ghost, lost much of their screentime (or all of it in the latter's case).
Mole Man debuted in The Fantastic Four's opening TV special, where it was revealed he was thwarted by Marvel's First Family in trying to steal the Pan Am Building for Subterranea. Ultimately, Sue Storm was able to broker a deal for peace, with Harvey Rupert Elder, aka Mole Man, telling the documentary, "I don't trust surface dwellers, I never have. But I do trust Sue." Beyond that, Mole Man is mostly absent until Galactus' arrival is imminent, and he is called to the Baxter Building for help. Here, Sue convinced Harvey to offer Subterranea as a place of evacuation for New York's citizens, despite his clear standing rivalry with Reed Richards and most of the surface world.
Following the announcement of The Fantastic Four: First Steps' digital premiere on Tuesday, September 23, one of the deleted scenes that will be included as a bonus feature has been released, and Marvel Studios should have kept it in.
The scene sees Vanessa Kirby's Sue Storm taking an elevator to the underground kingdom of Subterranea to visit Paul Walter Hauser's Mole Man, sneaking up on him after hearing he had "[threatened] revolt."
After sewer pipes burst, Mole Man noted he had "people living in escrament under Statton Island," something Sue insisted she already had people from her Future Foundation working to resolve.
Ultimately, the heavily pregnant Sue struck a deal to bring some of Subterranea's "best workers" into the fold to fix the sewers.
The full deleted scene can be seen below:
The "Subterranea" deleted scene is one of five cut moments that will be released as bonus features on The Fantastic Four's home release:
- "Thanksgiving Soup Kitchen"
- "Fantastic Four Day"
- "Subterranea"
- "Birthday Sweater"
- "Taking Turns"
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will hit digital stores on Tuesday, September 23, before its physical release on October 14. The movie's Disney+ debut is yet to be announced, but is expected to take place later this year.
Why The Fantastic Four: First Steps Needed More Mole Man
Paul Walter Hauser's Mole Man was pivotal to The Fantastic Four: First Steps' climax and the New York evacuation. And yet, since Mole Man had only briefly appeared in an opening montage for a matter of seconds, his agreement to help the surface world lacked the impact it could otherwise have had.
Granted, this deleted scene wouldn't have done much to solve that issue, but it would have added slightly more depth to Mole Man's relationship with the surface world and apparent "trust" toward Sue Storm that ultimately saved lives.
Mole Man's limited screentime has also been criticized as a waste of actor Paul Walter Hauser, who won an Emmy for his role in Apple TV+'s Black Bird and has been praised for his Oscar-worthy performance in the 2019 film Richard Jewell.
On the topic of wasted actors, unfortunately, there are no signs that John Malkovich's Red Ghost, who was cut from The Fantastic Four shortly before release, will be featured in the soon-to-be-released deleted scenes.
Much like Mole Man, Red Ghost was reportedly set for a minor role in which his Super Apes would have helped build the teleporters to thwart Galactus. That said, director Matt Shakman hinted both villains "certainly could come back," so the door may not be closed on them ahead of the in-development sequel.
