Ebon Moss-Bachrach is putting it all on the line to play The Thing! The Fantastic Four: First Steps star speaks on his experience with mo-cap and the amazing cast of the reboot.
Much to the chagrin of longtime fans, it’s been confirmed that The Thing will, in fact, be CGI in The Fantastic Four First Steps. Many hoped that Ebon Moss-Bachrach would don a practical suit to play the Yancy Street clobber in the reboot. However, due to the challenges associated with full body suits, Marvel opted to go for motion capture. Yet if you ask Bachrach, even that has its issues when it comes to his grooming habits.
“I’m doing a lot of motion capture on [‘Fantastic Four’],” Bachrach, told Variety in a recent chat. “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.”
While to some it may be disappointing that The Thing will be CGI in the reboot, it seems Ebon Moss-Bachrach himself is rather confident about the process. The studio is also clearly giving animators their space to work on his rig for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, meaning it’ll likely be better than prior cracks taken at portraying the iconic hero.
Ebon-Moss Bachrach Professes His Love For Reboot Cast
Yet it seems The Thing’s look isn’t the thing that Ebon Moss-Bachrach loves the most in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The actor was forced to leave set for a few days in order to attend the Emmys, during which he won the award for ‘Best Supporting Actor In a Comedy Series’ for The Bear. When speaking about the experience, he emphasized how much he missed his fellow cast for the reboot.
“You got Joseph Quinn, you got Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal. I mean this is a great-looking crowd. [They have] beautiful hearts, just a pleasure working with these guys. I miss them already.”
“It’s really kind. [There was a] sweet card, [and I] teared up a little bit,” Bachrach continued. “I love them. We’ve been working so hard together. We’re so close, so even going away for a second I get a little separation anxiety.”
Given how central the family dynamic is set to be for The Fantastic Four: First Steps, it’s amazing to hear that Ebon-Moss Bachrach holds the rest of his cast in such high regard. Anticipation is high for the reboot, being Marvel’s third chance at trying to nail the iconic super team. Hopefully, even in spite of The Thing’s controversial creation, it manages to be a homerun with fans.
The Fantastic Four opens on July 25, 2025. Stay tuned for all the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
