I mean that in the nicest way possible, with the utmost respect for this delightful actor. But what the heck, Tim Blake Nelson? Does loyalty mean nothing to you?

I am, of course, talking about the news that Tim Blake Nelson has been cast as the Mole Man in the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot. Technically he’s been cast as scientist Harvey Elder, with the implication that he’ll become the Mole Man in one of the sequels, because that has worked out so well in the past.

This time it’ll work for sure!

But Tim Blake Nelson has been in this exact scenario before! Nelson was cast as scientist Samuel Sterns in The Incredible Hulk in 2008, with the implication that he’d transform into the villainous Leader in one of the sequels. Heck, they even started transforming Nelson in the climax of that film.

Remember this scene?

Like it was yesterday

Obviously the Incredible Hulk sequel never came to pass and Nelson never got to play the super-villain. Is that his motivation here? Was he sad that Marvel never came through for him, so like a jilted lover, he’s jumped ship to join FOX and their Fantastic Four reboot? Which one of these companies is the trail-blazing leader in superhero films, Tim Blake Nelson? How could you do this to us! I had such high hopes for you!

This actually puts me in a real dilly of a pickle. You see, in my List of Six of the things I wanted to see on the TV show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Tim Blake Nelson returning as the Leader was my #1 choice! The show is the perfect place to pick up abandoned plotlines from the Hulk movie! They’ve already introduced Hulk adversary Glenn Talbot to the show. Why not have Nelson guest star on Agents as the Leader? He would be perfect as a Big Bad for a season! He’s a real, legitimate comic book villain, but he’s clearly not going to appear in any future Marvel movies! Plus how cool would it be for an abandoned movie storyline to be picked up by the show? That should be exactly why Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. exists.

But here’s the thing, in my List of six of the things I wanted to see in the Fantastic Four reboot, Mole Man was my #2 entry! So the gods of pop culture gave me one of my wishes by stealing from another. It’s madness.