Fantastic Four Set Video Strongly Hints At Important Comic Book Villain

While Fantastic Four: First Steps isn’t the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s nearest release, it is certainly the most important and exciting one in a while. Now, a recent discovery posted to social media and YouTube seems to suggest that a pivotal Fantastic Four villain from the comics will be making an appearance in the film to give fans even more to appreciate when it hits theaters.

Fantastic Four: First Steps has a lot to live up to, as it brings Marvel’s first true super-team into the highly successful MCU for the first time in earnest. Originally held back by Fox holding the film rights to the characters and exercising them on multiple theatrical occasions with diminishing success each time, Disney’s acquisition of the company gave Marvel Studios the green light to start plotting what will be the definitive version of these iconic heroes. With so much anticipation building, there were even early rumors that the MCU’s new superteam will face more than just one villain in their theatrical debut with the franchise.

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While Fantastic Four: First Steps director Matt Shakman confirmed that fans shouldn’t expect any other heroes, the door does indeed seem wide open for more villains to make an appearance in the upcoming film and a prime contender might have just been confirmed. In a video posted by user UnBoxPHD on X and hosted on the YouTube channel of the same name, fans can see a short walkthrough of part of an abandoned underground set for the upcoming Fantastic Four film, complete with a bus in matching team colors and tons of leftover equipment. The space is expansive and certainly gives off the right sort of vibe for a live-action version of Subterranea, an iconic underground Marvel location already hinted at on the souvenir map available at San Diego ComicCon earlier this year, and the storied home of the villainous Mole Man. While by no means the most popular villain ever, the Mole Man holds one impressive (and relevant) distinction: being the very first supervillain that the Fantastic Four ever faced.

Dating right back to the team’s first appearance in 1961’s superb Fantastic Four #1, the Mole Man was behind the team’s first adventure together as Reed summons his soon-to-be family to take on the threat of the villain’s monstrous subterranean creatures encroaching on the surface world. This important place in the timeline of the team’s comic book history makes Mole Man an important figure for comic book fans and could say a lot about the approach the film is taking in its adaptation of the superteam. While the female Silver Surfer set to be featured in the film originates from the comics, taking a villain from an alternate reality gave fans mixed feelings about the approach to the adaptation that a Mole Man inclusion could serve to really even out overall. His inclusion also seem to tie into the title of the film pretty well, as nothing says First Steps louder than harkening back to #1.

While the video is titled “Explorers find Abandoned Fantastic Four Film Set in Underground Mine | Mole Man’s Cave” on YouTube and the Twitter caption isn’t too far off from that, several commenters seem to strongly disagree with the notion that this was a coincidental find by the exploration team in the video, pointing out the hefty cost of rented equipment and professional violations associated with leaving such heavy machinery unattended in a publicly accessible underground space. This contingent seems convinced that the whole thing is a coy marketing ploy from Marvel Studios to promote Fantastic Four: First Steps by confirming a very significant comic book villain and showing off the admittedly encouraging efforts made to bring the set to life. Older BTS photos already showed great decisions concerning Ben Grimm’s iconic appearance, and this more recent discovery seems to give a great account of how the set pieces are being handled as well.

While bringing the Mole Man into the MCU alongside Marvel’s First Family in First Steps is a great first step, the real focus of the films will remain firmly above ground, to say the least. With weighty rumors suggesting that a Fantastic Four: First Steps title change may have been revealed by a crew member already, it’s looking pretty clear that the Silver Surfer and Galactus won’t be sharing the stage with the Mole Man for much of the film regardless. This shouldn’t come as a surprise, and the effort put into what might only be a minor appearance is a sign of good things to come for a project with so much weight on its shoulders.

Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently set for theatrical release on July 25, 2025.

Release Date

July 25, 2025

Director

Matt Shakman

Cast

Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby

Rating

Not Yet Rated

Genres

Superhero, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Writers

Ian Springer, Jeff Kaplan, Josh Friedman

Studio(s)

Marvel Studios

Distributor(s)

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Franchise(s)

Marvel Cinematic Universe

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Source: UnBoxPHD/X