‘The Fantastic Four’ — Ebon Moss-Bachrach Talks Playing The Thing

Ebon Moss-Bachrach says that Marvel is dropping the bulky costumes and relying more on motion capture suits for his transformation into The Thing in the upcoming Fantastic Four film. The Bear star recently appeared as a guest on an installment of Jimmy Kimmel Live! where the talk show’s titular host clobbered him with questions about the recent casting announcement that he would be appearing as Ben Grimm aka The Thing, digging for more information behind the studio’s currently guarded project. In previous iterations of The Thing, actors like Michael Chiklis dressed in a full suit of rocks but Moss-Bachrach says they’re leaving that behind.

“In the past, they’ve done a suit, Michael Chiklis wore a suit. Apparently, the suit was really uncomfortable. And it’s kind of…
We’re past that
, I think it’s a little kind of cosplay kind of, you know, it’s a little amateur, that stuff, now with the technology we have. So yeah,
I think it’s mostly performance captured – motion capture
, performance capture.”

Along with his mo-cap comments, Moss-Bachrach also gleefully and jokingly said that he knew he was going to play The Thing, “All my life,” before sharing the story of how he learned he nabbed the role all the way back in August. Other titillating bits of information to come from his interview with Jimmy Kimmel included a tease that poked at the time frame during which the film would be set, with Kimmel pointing out that the casting announcement and release date reveal were featured in a poster that came alive with ‘60s vibes. While he didn’t confirm or deny, Moss-Bachrach said, “The image does seem to be ‘60s,” adding that he’s “read” the project’s script.

Who Else Is In ‘The Fantastic Four’?

The rumor mill has long been churning on this one with Hollywood’s hottest star, Pedro Pascal being speculated to have been tapped as Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic in November. Spreading the love on Valentine’s Day, Marvel finally gave fans the news they had been waiting for, confirming that Pascal would portray Reed Richards alongside Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. With WandaVision director, Matt Shakman, standing at the helm and Avatar 4 scribe Josh Friedman penning the script, the superhero flick is shaping up to be a promising title for the studio. Now we’ll just need to wait to find out what villain will be taking on the family and who will voice their dedicated robot, H.E.R.B.I.E.

Check out Moss-Bachrach’s full chat on Jimmy Kimmel Live! below, where he also opens up about his Emmy-winning role in The Bear. Fantastic Four arrives in theaters on July 25, 2025. You can read everything we know about the project here in our guide.