The MCU finally fixed a Fantastic Four curse that’s stuck with one character in the team for 20 years viaThe Fantastic Four: First Steps. As evidenced byThe Fantastic Four: First Steps' stellar Rotten Tomatoes reviews, the2025 MCU moviehas helped bring theMarvelsuperhero team back to the big screen in a major way.
Following some varied attempts to makethe Fantastic Four’s movieswork,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis able to bring not only the titular group to life, but also other key Marvel figures like Franklin Richards and Galactus. Thankfully, the way the movie depicts Marvel’s First Family additionally breaks a movie curse that was well worth bringing to an end.
The Thing’s Marvel Movie History Focused On Him As A Seriously Tragic Character
Ben Grimm’s Movie History Has Overly Focused On The Tragedy Of The Character
The Thing’s movie history hastended to focus more squarely on the tragedy of Ben Grimm’s transformation. This is understandable in the sense that both the 2005 and 2015 Fantastic Four movies focused largely on being origin stories, which necessitated The Thing’s story centering on his understandable difficulties with acclimatizing to his new form.
2005’sFantastic Fourmovie even attempts to also make this into a source of comic relief by joking about The Thing’s appearance. Understandably, these moments land awkwardly, as they’re dispersed between devastating scenes like The Thing’s fiancée breaking up with him because of how he looks, and Ben then being unable to pick up her ring with his transformed hands.
The 2015Fantastic Fourdrew back from poking fun at The Thing’s transformation, but did so arguably by doubling down on making Ben’s story sad. Not only is this version of The Thing transformed into a totally different form against his will, he’s also shortly after abandoned by his best friend, with Reed fleeing the compound they’re being contained in.
While the ending of the movie teases The Thing developing into a less solely tragic figure, the majority of the movie’s time is taken up with this somber depiction - including rewriting Ben’s “clobbering time” catchphrase to be what his brother would say before beating him. As such, The Thing’s live-action film history has generally been a decidedly more tragic one.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps Breaks This Movie Curse In A Big Way
Ben Grimm Is Shown In A Different Light
The Fantastic Four: First Stepsdoes have the luxury of being able to explore the life of a Ben Grimm who’s been The Thing for several years at this point. However, the movie actively works to establish a version of The Thing who is more comfortable with himself, even if it also shows his understandable moments of doubt.
Through moments like The Thing casually shaving with an angle grinder or making pasta alongside HERBIE, the movie dedicates a fair portion of time to demonstrating how Ben has adjusted to life. Grimm appears to enjoy his everyday life in the movie, and indeed is the one to console Reed when the scientist references feeling responsible for their origin story.
Crucially, since the Fantastic Four are established superheroes in their universe from the momentThe Fantastic Four: First Stepsbegins, the movie is able to show Ben Grimm being revered as a superhero. After live-action movies focusing on sadder sides of the character, seeing kids cheer upon seeing him - and even wear The Thing masks - is a welcome change.
Altogether,The Fantastic Four: First Stepsis able to show a more balanced picture when it comes to The Thing, depicting him as someone who is largely content even if his changed form makes things a little more complicated. This is all the more welcome a development given it took decades to get this perspective in a live-action movie.
The Thing’s Marvel Movie History Helped Make The MCU’s Version Work
The Fantastic Four’s Movie History Helps The Fantastic Four: First Steps' Approach Make Sense & Work
The rise of the superhero genre has meant that certain parts of superhero movies that would have essentially been considered vital are often not in the modern day. Needing to explain the origin stories of figures like Spider-Man and Superman, for example, appears to be a thing of the past, thanks to the success ofSpider-Man: Homecomingand 2025’sSuperman.
It seems as though The Thing’s transformation - and him not being entirely stoked to go from flesh and blood to a more rocklike biological setup - is similar in this regard. With three live-action movies having dedicated time to showing Ben Grimm being horrified with his initial transformation, there’s less need for a fourth film to do so.
Indeed, mixed receptions to the Fantastic Four’s past installments arguably helped to inform the MCU about what elements of the characters to lean into and away from. Ben’s ability to be comic relief thanks to his own wit and charm have been arguably overlooked in the past adaptations, which could explain why they’re more focal here.
It’s clear being transformed into a more geological form would be stressful without needing this explained, and with a selection of Fantastic Four movies underscoring this idea, it certainly doesn’t need repeating intensely. Instead,The Fantastic Four: First Stepshighlights different sides to Ben Grimm, letting film audiences understand the character in a whole new way.
