The Fantastic Four: First Stepswill seemingly be going for the CGI route for its version of The Thing. After two live-action movie franchises, the Fantastic Four will finally arrive in theMarvel Cinematic Universenext year.2025’sThe Fantastic Four: First Stepswill be doing plenty of new things with the superhero franchise, but a new reveal from The Thing actor teases that the MCU will be pulling a page from one of the oldFantastic Four moviesfor its depiction of Ben Grimm.
Moss-Bachrach said that there are hundreds of animators working on The Thing’s CGI.
During an interview withVariety,MCU The Thing actor Ebon Moss-Bachrach talked about his character’s VFX process inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps. The actor revealed that the reason he has not been spotted sporting his traditional stubble seen inThe Bearas of late is due to the need for a lot of motion capture work for the Fantastic Four reboot. Moss-Bachrach said that there are hundreds of animators working on The Thing’s CGI, and he still has not seen what the hero will look like in theupcoming MCU movie. Check out the full quote below:
“I’m doing a lot of motion capture on [‘Fantastic Four’]. So for maximum-data facial capture, I have to be clean-shaven.
They got so many amazing animators working on it, literally hundreds of people working on it. We’ve been shooting for about six weeks, and I haven’t been able to see anything yet. I don’t know exactly what the lead time is. I’m very excited to see something.”
How The Fantastic Four The Thing Set Photos Fit With Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Reveal
Moss-Bachrach’s reveal might come as a shock to some, as previousThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsset photosfeatured a practical suit for The Thing. Notably, the actor was not the one behind the suit. With the confirmation that The Thing will be CGI in the MCU, as the actor is doing a lot of motion capture work for the Fantastic Four reboot, the set photos for the upcoming MCU film have a new meaning. Instead of being the physical suit that Moss-Bachrach will wear to transform into The Thing, the set photos reveal a look at the character’s stand-in.
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That means that the practical The Thing suit is merely being used by Marvel Studios to serve as reference for the hundreds of animators who are currently hard at work crafting the hero’s final look. The MCU has done the same with multiple characters in the past. A couple of cases include Thanos inAvengers: Infinity WarandEndgame, with actor Josh Brolin wearing a cardboard cutout of his character’s head that provided a height-accurate reference for the animators and the other actors. There has also been a physical Rocket Raccoon puppet on set throughout his MCU appearances.
Based on Moss-Bachrach’s The Thing CGI comments, the MCU will be taking a route closer to the one used by the 2015Fantastic Fourmovie, which brought Jamie Bell’s The Thing to life via VFX, instead of the 2000s movies for the team, which saw actor Michael Chiklis wear a physical suit. However, the MCU’s version of The Thing, even if it is CGI, should look better than the one from the team’s ill-fated 2015 reboot, as the set photos with the stand-in tease a better and more classic look for the hero inThe Fantastic Four: First Steps.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Cast
The Fantastic 4: First Steps features Marvel’s First Family navigating their dual roles as superheroes and family members in a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world. They defend Earth from a formidable space god, Galactus, and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer, testing their familial bonds and heroic resolve.
