Here’s The Thing. No, literally, here’s The Thing, the character played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach in the upcoming MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) movie Fantastic Four: First Steps, via leaked photos and video from the set of the new film.
I’ll post and link the set video and photo below. But the new costume lines up with the comic book accurate look of the rocky superhero shown off in marketing materials for the movie. However, a word of caution here. While the internet is currently running hog wild, trumpeting that the movie is using practical effects for The Thing, it’s far more likely something else is going on here. Specifically, given the latex look of the costume, it’s likely this is standing in for the eventual CGI render of Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm. This way, director Matt Shakman can get everyone properly in the scene… The Thing is much wider and larger than his compatriots. And that means he can also light the shots and frame them properly.
Whether the eventual Thing we see on screen will be an amalgam of CGI and practical effects, or the CGI replacing him entirely is TBD. The good news though is that, as suspected based on the previous marketing materials, this will look more like the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing than we saw previously, played by Michael Chiklis and then Jamie Bell.
Anyway, enough of me blabbering on, here’s what you came for. First, here’s the set photo via an account on X (formerly Twitter) called vaporpanther, which has since been taken down. However, the pic was grabbed by F4Update, so here you go:
There’s also a video version of this posted, and I’ll admit it’s hard to tell whether this is a person in a costume or a dummy they’ve placed on set. It honestly could go either way, as there’s no particular reason to make Moss-Bachrach (or a stuntman) stand around in a costume that thick for hours at a time.
Fantastic Four: First Steps will hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
