Fantastic Four: First Steps Reinvents One Key Element Of The Thing (For The Better)

Spoilers follow.

If there's one consistent detail that remained in all prior adaptations of Marvel's The Fantastic Four, it's that being Ben Grimm aka The Thing (played this time by Ebon Moss-Bachrach), isn't that fantastic. Of all the superpowers in this group, the team's pilot that became a permanently rough around the edges hero has spent the last three big screen iterations pretty peeved about it. The 2005 version, while not a popular effort did have some great heartbreaking moments from Michael Chiklis' version of the character, highlighting just what life was like permanently wrapped in rubble.

The 2015 version, besides being one of the worst comic book films ever made, also tried to tackle the same matter and handled it just as poorly as the rest of the movie. Finally though, Matt Shakman has done the unthinkable that almost comes part and parcel with another masterstroke in the former "WandaVision" showrunner's handling of Marvel's First Family. While it might be called "First Steps" the new Fantastic Four takes place four years after their superhero origin, and in doing so, skims over Ben Grimm's battle with his new look (that also comes with a beard) entirely.

Just like James Gunn took a massive risk flying by the origin of "Superman" and the Russo Brothers' skipped Spider-Man's spider-bite in the MCU, Shakman gets right to the good stuff as opposed to seeing our team go through another batch of cosmic waves. By shifting us so far forward in the timeline, it also allows us to meet The Thing in a much better place than the one we've seen him in so many times before. As shown in the trailer, Ben is an avid cook, a friendly visitor of his old home turf of Yancy Street, and even comfortable enough to talk to a potential love interest. As a result, the tired route of the man trapped in the monster being removed opens up more space for an already busy comic book movie.

That's not to say Ben is totally made of stone. In a passing conversation between The Thing and Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), the two talk about their shared life-changing experience that sees both have a moment of awkward silence. It's a matter of seconds, though, as Ben quickly assures his friend that anything that happened wasn't his fault and that he's learned to live in the situation he's found himself in. It's a refreshing route to take, but one that has every chance to revert back to old familiar turf with "Avengers: Doomsday," but in an all-new and interesting way.

It's been confirmed following the monumental cast announcements that besides the familiar faces making up the roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Fantastic Four will be appearing in "Avengers: Doomsday." It's a safe bet that this meeting will be in an effort to track down the son of Reed and Sue (Vanessa Kirby), Franklin Richards, who has been taken by Doom (Robert Downey Jr.). The concern here is that the dimensional-hopping villain is bad enough even before he even has a potentially reality-breaking baby under his wing. Wielding such an arsenal could provide Doom with all manner of abilities to neutralize heroes, and that might include our boy, Ben.

In the comics, Grimm has been transformed in and out of his rocky physique that's best suited for clobberin' time, most recently by Doom himself. Keeping this in consideration, it would be interesting to see how Ben would handle reverting back to his human form after what will be eight years, and whether he'd try to get back to being fighting fit or not. Admittedly, this would be retreading over the same ground that "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" touched on, but given how well Shakman and Bachrach handled the hero in this take, it could be great to see this Grimm becoming human again. "Avengers: Doomsday" will undoubtedly be full of battles, but who knows? One of them might include Ben fighting the idea of leaving the ever-loving blue-eyed Thing behind for good. Now wouldn't that be fantastic?