Bringing a CG character to life in a blockbuster movie is a complex process, and the filmmakers behind The Fantastic Four: First Steps went the extra mile for creating The Thing. While Ebon Moss-Bachrach headlines the film as Ben Grimm, he wasn’t the only one who helped realize Thing’s role in First Steps. According to Empire, there was also a stand-in actor who wore “a practical costume” to give the visual effects team another reference to draw from. Additionally, director Matt Shakman used an actual rock the crew dubbed “Jennifer” on set to play The Thing. In an interview with Empire, Shakman explained why this was necessary.
“We went out to the desert and found a rock that looked exactly how we thought The Thing should look,” Shakman said. “And we filmed it in every single shot that The Thing appears in in the movie, under every lighting environment.”
Over the past two decades, filmmakers have used different techniques to portray The Thing in Fantastic Four movies. In the film from 2005, Michael Chiklis wore makeup and prosthetics. The methods used in the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot were more similar to what Shakman did on First Steps. Jamie Bell portrayed The Thing via motion capture. During production on First Steps, Moss-Bachrach wore performance capture gear.
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Shakman’s approach could help lay the foundation for The Thing’s future Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances. Moss-Bachrach is reprising the role in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. It’s unknown if there will be a Fantastic Four sequel at some point, but if First Steps is a hit, Marvel will likely want to keep the characters around.
Some might find it silly Shakman went so far as to have a physical rock on set with the crew, but it was probably an invaluable asset for his team. A massive part of making visual effects look photorealistic on screen is ensuring the lighting is handled properly. By shooting practical elements like a stand-in wearing a costume and an actual rock, the hard-working First Steps VFX department had great resources to pull from when animating The Thing. They were able to get an idea of what the character was supposed to look like in certain environments and then could match that lighting to the special effects shots. If this isn’t done correctly, audiences will notice something is off, and that could impact how they view the film.
Based on the early looks at The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it seems like Shakman’s strategy paid off. While The Thing is obviously a CG character, he looks very natural in every scene he’s in from the trailers and TV spots. Marvel has a lot riding on First Steps, which is Kevin Feige’s shot at doing the legendary characters justice. For that reason, every conceivable detail needed to be on point, and it’s nice to know Shakman was willing to go outside the box to help make First Steps the best film possible.
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