Fant4stic "It's Clobberin' Time!" - The Ben "Thing" Grimm Thread

[Majik1387]

Bell is probly my favorite casting for the movie.

It's off-putting at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense.

I didn't hate the Chiklis Thing look as much as everyone else did, but I agree I want a different way for Thing to look. I'd prefer practical effects embellished with CGI over a full-CGI Thing like Hulk in Avengers, simply because I feel like Thing is an easy character to do mostly in practical effects compared to the Hulk.

Keep in mind, I don't know what special effects company they'll be using, so I could be dead wrong, but I'll say for this movie, Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing is my most anticipated casting for the movie.

 

[JP]

Since it's FOX, I'll assume WETA.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Bell is probly my favorite casting for the movie.

It's off-putting at first, but when you think about it, it makes sense.

I didn't hate the Chiklis Thing look as much as everyone else did, but I agree I want a different way for Thing to look. I'd prefer practical effects embellished with CGI over a full-CGI Thing like Hulk in Avengers, simply because I feel like Thing is an easy character to do mostly in practical effects compared to the Hulk.

Keep in mind, I don't know what special effects company they'll be using, so I could be dead wrong, but I'll say for this movie, Bell as Ben Grimm/The Thing is my most anticipated casting for the movie.

I'd like to see some screen tests of the practical vs. CGI before saying for sure, but yeah, if they can do some with practical effects and that can give the Thing some more screen time, a more realistic look and less of a hit on the budget, then a combination could be a good idea.

And the suit (at least in the second film) was very good as long as he was just hanging out, but the big disappointment to me was that he never moved like Kirby drew him and that's part of what made him work so well in the comics.

Ben may weigh 4 times as much as a normal person, but he's 100 times stronger, so his limbs weigh nothing to him. He can and does move them with force and speed and if they can put that on screen it could be a key element of this film.

So I'm also very intrigued and excited by the idea of a dancer doing the mo-cap.

 

[RockSP]

Saw this on another board:

 

[VICTORVONDOOMX]

For someone to cast Jaime Bell as Benjamin J Grimm means they have NO idea who that character is.

 

[<(o_o)>]

For someone to cast Jaime Bell as Benjamin J Grimm means they have NO idea who that character is.

As long as he turns into a big rock man it shouldn't really matter how he looked before. Jamie Bell is a bit shorter than the last guy to play Thing so I would definitely hate it if they just stuck him in another suit.

 

[VICTORVONDOOMX]

Actually psychology is who we ARE. Growing up a bruiser versus growing up effeminate formulates a different person. Just because people don't grasp this doesn't make it any less true. Dat clown ain't Ben Grimm.

 

[JP]

If they play up the war hero aspect, I could easily see Bell as the jarhead type.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Jamie Bell may not be the perfect Ben, but I think it's much less of a stretch than Teller as Reed.

And if he's a mediocre Ben but an outstanding Thing (as I hope), that's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Here's a clip from Man on a Ledge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeMYNRRjHuk

 

[Spider-Fan]

Jamie Bell may not be the perfect Ben, but I think it's much less of a stretch than Teller as Reed.

And if he's a mediocre Ben but an outstanding Thing (as I hope), that's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Here's a clip from Man on a Ledge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeMYNRRjHuk

I'd rather get someone well suited for both roles. Not just someone who can play the character when he has CGI and sound studios to do part of the work for him.

 

[EssayM]

I think this is one place where "let's wait till the trailer comes out is actually a valid excuse. Granted, Bell wouldn't have been my first choice, but I can accept they probably did something with his pre-Thing persona that justifies him not looking like a football jock. Like maybe he was a scrawny kid who always wanted to be a muscular badass, only when he finally becomes one he looks like a monster. That's not radically changing him, that's just being creative with the character. I'm an FF fan, and I don't think anything has ever been definitively established about the Thing's pre-transformation personality. If you add something where nothing currently exist, is it really changing the character?

 

[VICTORVONDOOMX]

That is radically changing him. We ARE our psychology.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

I think this is one place where "let's wait till the trailer comes out is actually a valid excuse. Granted, Bell wouldn't have been my first choice, but I can accept they probably did something with his pre-Thing persona that justifies him not looking like a football jock. Like maybe he was a scrawny kid who always wanted to be a muscular badass, only when he finally becomes one he looks like a monster. That's not radically changing him, that's just being creative with the character. I'm an FF fan, and I don't think anything has ever been definitively established about the Thing's pre-transformation personality. If you add something where nothing currently exist, is it really changing the character?

I actually think he's in good enough shape that he could have played safety (for example) at a (presumably) small school like Empire State University, but he still doesn't look like Ben or have the physical size.

But in terms of playing a tough, Jewish guy who grew up on the Lower East Side, I have no doubt he could pull that off.

 

[Quasimod0]

I think this is one place where "let's wait till the trailer comes out is actually a valid excuse. Granted, Bell wouldn't have been my first choice, but I can accept they probably did something with his pre-Thing persona that justifies him not looking like a football jock. Like maybe he was a scrawny kid who always wanted to be a muscular badass, only when he finally becomes one he looks like a monster. That's not radically changing him, that's just being creative with the character. I'm an FF fan, and I don't think anything has ever been definitively established about the Thing's pre-transformation personality. If you add something where nothing currently exist, is it really changing the character?

That could be an interesting character angle. I hadn't considered that. Kind of a "be careful what you wish for" thing.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Not trying to get all homoerotic on y'all, but:

 

[Quasimod0]

It's not like pre-Thing Ben Grimm is gonna be a HUGE part anyway.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

It's not like pre-Thing Ben Grimm is gonna be a HUGE part anyway.

Agreed. We've spent a lot of time talking about how it's more acceptable to change minor characters (Alicia, Wyatt Wingfoot etc.) vs. the key, major characters that we really want to match from the comics. I think in this case we could say human Ben Grimm is a minor character (we rarely see him in that form, so he's not a fixture). The Thing is the major character.

Ideally, I'd like to have everything perfect, but if I have to pick my battles, I'm okay with Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm compared to some of the much more offensive revisions we're likely to get.

 

[Gabe99]

1986/7 Jack Kirby Interview

PITTS: So, you’re saying the idea for these characters– the F.F., for instance– was yours?

KIRBY: The idea for the F.F. was my idea. My own anger against radiation. Radiation was the big subject at that time, because we still don’t know what radiation can do to people. It can be beneficial, it can be very harmful. In the case of Ben Grimm, Ben Grimm was a college man, he was a World War II flyer. He was everything that was good in America. And radiation made a monster out of him–made an angry monster out of him, because of his own frustration.

If you had to see yourself in the mirror, and the Thing looked back at you, you’d feel frustrated. Let’s say you’d feel alienated from the rest of the species. Of course, radiation had the effect on all of the F.F.– the girl became invisible, Reed became very plastic. And of course, the Human Torch, which was created by Carl Burgos, was thrown in for good measure, to help the entertainment value.

I began to evolve the F.F. I made the Thing a little pimply at first, and I felt that the pimples were a little ugly, so I changed him to a different pattern and that pattern became more popular, so I kept it that way and the Thing has been that way ever since. The element of truth in the Fantastic Four is the radiation– not the characters. And that’s what people relate to, and that’s what we all fight about today.

Ben Grimm sez “It’s Hanukkah, time!”

 

[Gabe99]

With Great Chutzpah Comes Great Responsibility: JACK KIRBY & THE THING- 2



From CBR:
Comic Book Legends Revealed #253

COMIC LEGEND: Jack Kirby drew the Thing's hide to be like a "dinosaur hide."

STATUS: True, at first

When Jack says that the Thing's skin was "dinosaur hide," he is specifically referring to how he drew The Thing at FIRST, in Fantastic Four #1.

And when you look at it, that seems pretty evident...

However, the whole "Kirby says the Thing is covered with dinosaur hide" thing has been extrapolated/misconstrued over the years as being Kirby saying that that is how he drew/envisioned the Thing PERIOD.

This is not the case - Kirby specifically meant the early days of the Thing, not the later, rocky version of the Thing that we all know (and presumably love) today.

There's not really much more to it than that, I'm afraid!

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

 

[Sardaukar]

Does Bell have a deep voice?

 

[The Question]

I'm genuinely excited for Bell as Ben Grimm. Hes a very talented actor, and I don't see his physical appearance as a detriment to the character. Ben Grimm was always supposed to be fairly handsome before his transformation, that's part of the tragedy of the character, and it's not like a tough kid from the streets with pretty boy looks and something to prove is anything new in storytelling (or in real life). I've seen more than a few rough, jock-esque Marines who look not unlike Bell as far as good looks go. Nothing stopping a boyishly handsome fellow from playing a tough Jewish kid from a poor neighborhood with a heart of gold, and Bell's got the acting chops to back it up.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

Does Bell have a deep voice?

Not really. You can judge for yourself here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeMYNRRjHuk

Of course Chiklis' natural voice is fairly high-pitched and whiney.

 

[terry78]

We'll see. I know some will disagree but it's on par with Eisenberg being cast as Luthor. Bell was nowhere near on my list of guys I wanted to play the Thing, as he was always a muscular jock, but they saw something, so whatever.

 

[Willie Lumpkin]

We'll see. I know some will disagree but it's on par with Eisenberg being cast as Luthor. Bell was nowhere near on my list of guys I wanted to play the Thing, as he was always a muscular jock, but they saw something, so whatever.

I'm intrigued by the Bell pick for reasons I've mentioned previously, but I'm also a little nervous. I'm making presumptions for their reasoning and they could have completely different reasoning.

One thing with Eisenberg is: I think Zack Snyder and WB have earned a little trust for fans to say: "Hmmm, not sure, but let's see."

Fox hasn't earned that, and my theory - that he was hired specifically for his dance and mo-cap abilities - might hold more water if the rest of the cast looked perfect and he was the only head scratcher.

Considering the rest of the cast, I can't ignore the possibility that my reasoning didn't even cross their mind and they just picked him out of their a$$.