'Fantastic Four' close to landing Tim Blake Nelson

Tim Blake Nelson is in final negotiations to play the dweebish scientist who (spoiler!) turns out to be Mole Man in the new Fantastic Four reboot.

A source close to the production confirms the Hollywood Reporter story that Nelson, best known for his roles in O’ Brother, Where Art Thou and Lincoln, would play Harvey Elder, a socially inept genius whose theories about a subterranean society lead him to being branded a crackpot.

The new Fantastic Four — Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, and Kate Mara — battle Doctor Doom (Toby Kebbell) in the movie, which has a June 19, 2015 release date. But the Elder-as-Mole Man reveal will likely be held off until the sequel, which is already penciled in for July 14, 2017.