Paul Walter Hauser says reading Marvel Comics is “so fun.”
Marvel Studios’ long-awaited The Fantastic Four film is set for a 2025 release, and the movie has a stacked cast. It was announced earlier this year that the film’s core four will be played by Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing). The film is also set to feature Ralph Ineson as Galactus, Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer, and John Malkovich and Natasha Lyonne in unknown roles. Turns out, Malkovich and Lyonne aren’t the only stars whose parts are being kept under wraps. Emmy-winner Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird, Inside Out 2) is also in the film, and he recently spoke to Variety about prepping for his Marvel role.
“I have not dipped my toes into [Mike Batlan’s Deliver Me From Nowhere] yet because before I do that, I’ll be doing this film with Mark Wahlberg called Balls Up, and then after that, I’ll be doing Fantastic Four for Marvel,” Hauser shared. “So I’m mostly focused on those two right now. But once I start wrapping Balls Up in late summer, that’s when I’m going to get heavy into Batlan and dive into that. If I prep too much now I’ll probably try to cement choices and believe I have a handle on the character. And you never have a handle on the character until you basically wrap.”
“Pre-production for me has been reading comic books and reading the screenplay,” he added of The Fantastic Four. “A lot of it is assessing where I fit into that story and how to best utilize my time in it. You don’t want to make choices or do things that are redundant in a film. It’s important to know what the film is and what everyone’s jobs are so that you’re bringing your own unique take to something. That was incredibly important in BlacKkKlansmen. I was playing one of a half dozen racist idiots in the film, and you have to bring your own racist idiot to the table. It can’t just be everybody else’s. Whenever I’m in an ensemble, I’m trying to figure out how to be unique or specific without being distracting.”
“It’s so fun, man,” Hauser added of reading comics. “I didn’t really read Fantastic Four when I was a kid. I was very Batman-centric. But reading the Fantastic Four comics has been a blast. I love it.”
Paul Walter Hauser Was Hesitant to Join The Fantastic Four:
Paul Walter Hauser at the Emmys 2024 / The Fantastic Four Casting Announcement
– Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images, Marvel Studios)
In a new conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, the actor revealed why he was initially hesitant to take the role.
“Don’t think that didn’t weigh in as I was deciding whether or not to take the job,” Hauser explained. “That movie has not fully been nailed just yet … But I really do think the combination of the screenplay, and the department heads that are working on the film, and that classy cast of really exciting actors – some of them known for a long time, and some of them having a moment right now – [make me feel that] this movie is special, and it was something I wanted to be a part of.”
Stay tuned for more updates about The Fantastic Four, which is currently scheduled to be released on July 25, 2025.
