The days of comic book movies with one hero facing one villain are over. With many of these films stretching nearly to three hours in length, and of course the need to set up future movies, the more bad guys filling the screen the better. Josh Trank's Fantastic Four reboot already has Toby Kebbell lined up to play Doctor Doom, but now there's one more baddie the team will face.
Character actor and director Tim Blake Nelson has joined Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Kebbell in the cast, taking on the role of Harvey Elder. Elder is better known as the team's very first enemy, the Mole Man, appearing in the pages of 1961's Fantastic Four #1. Mole Man was a scientist hated by the scientist community due to his dwarfish appearance, bad attitude, and outdated "hollow earth" theories. While exploring the hidden land known as Monster Island, Elder fell into a deep, dark chasm, becoming partially blind in the process. Unable to escape and unwilling to go back to the surface world that shunned him, he decided to stay and discovered the underground realm known as Subterranea, becoming its ruler and leader of the Moloid race.Elder won't appear as Mole Man in the film but it's being set up for him to show up in sequels as a villain.
Nelson is becoming a go-to guy for playing Marvel scientists-turned-villains. He played Samuel Sterns, also known as the Leader, in The Incredible Hulk.
Fantastic Four opens on June 19th 2015. [THR]
