Paul Walter Hauser Cast in Fantastic Four, Naked Gun Reboots

Paul Walter Hauser is shaping up to have a major 2025.

The actor has joined the respective casts of both Fantastic Four and Naked Gun reboots currently set to arrive one week apart from each other in July 2025. Deadline confirmed both castings today, and they follow Hauser’s addition as the leading role in Josh Gad’s upcoming Chris Farley biopic.

In Paramount’s new Naked Gun reboot, Hauser will play Captain Ed, a role inhabited by George Kennedy in the original film franchise. He joins Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson, who are confirmed to appear as Sergeant Frank Drebin Jr. and his love interest, respectively. The Lonely Island’s Akiva Schaffer will direct, with Seth MacFarlane serving as a producer. The film is set to premiere on July 18th, 2025.

Meanwhile, Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot has several plot details still under wraps, so it’s unknown which character Hauser is set to play. The cast thus far for Fantastic Four includes Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (the Thing). Julia Garner was also recently added to the cast as the “Shalla-Bal” version of the Silver Surfer. Fantastic Four is currently slated for release on July 25th, 2025.

In addition to Fantastic Four, Naked Gun, and the untitled Chris Farley biopic, Paul Walter Hauser is continuing his hot streak in 2024 with an appearance as the “Embarrassment” emotion in Pixar’s Inside Out 2 and the forthcoming Matt Damon-starring heist film, The Instigators.