Thing (comics)

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Publication information
The Thing
The Thing. Art by Andrea Di Vito.
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov 1961)
Created by	Stan Lee Jack Kirby
In story information
Alter ego	Benjamin Jacob Grimm
Species	Human Mutate
Team affiliations	Fantastic Four UCWF West Coast Avengers Thunderiders Yancy Street Gang
Notable aliases	Blackbeard the Pirate
Abilities	Superhuman strength, stamina, and durability, Rock-like skin

The Thing (Benjamin "Ben" Jacob Grimm) is a fictional character, a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe. He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). His trademark orange rocky appearance, sense of humor, blue eyes, and his famous battle cry, "It's clobberin' time!" makes him one of comics' most recognizable and popular characters. The Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on those of Jimmy Durante.^[1]

Michael Chiklis portrays The Thing in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer.

[edit] Publication history

Main article: Fantastic Four#Publication history

Cover to Thing #1, July 1983. Art by John Byrne.

In addition to appearing in the Fantastic Four, the Thing has been the star of Marvel Two-in-One, Strange Tales (with his fellow Fantastic Four member the Human Torch) and two incarnations of his own eponymous series, not to mention many miniseries and one-shots.

[edit] Strange Tales

The Thing joined his Fantastic Four partner and frequent rival the Human Torch with #124 (1964) of Strange Tales, which then featured solo adventures of the Human Torch and backup Doctor Strange stories. The change was intended to liven the comic through the always humorous chemistry between the Torch and the Thing. They were replaced with the "modern-day" version of Nick Fury , Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D, who was then already appearing in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos in #135 (1965).

[edit] Marvel Two-In-One (1974-1983)

After a 1973 two issue try-out in issues 11 and 12 of Marvel Feature, the Thing appeared in the long-running series Marvel Two-In-One, which lasted 100 issues with seven annuals. In each issue Ben Grimm would be paired with another character from the Marvel Universe, frequently an obscure or colorful choice. The series was undoubtedly intended to introduce readers to new characters from Marvel's further reaches, by way of the more recognizable Thing's gruff, avuncular and pomposity-deflating humor. In 1992, Marvel reprinted four Two-in-One stories (#50, 51, 77 and 80) as a miniseries under the title The Adventures of the Thing.

[edit] The Thing (1983-1986)

The cancellation of Marvel Two-In-One led to the Thing's first completely solo series, which ran for thirty-six issues. It was originally written by John Byrne and then later by Mike Carlin, and drawn first by Ron Wilson and later by Paul Neary. It was notable for elaborating on Ben Grimm's poor childhood on Yancy Street in its first issue, as well as chronicling the Thing's adventures as a professional wrestler.

It also crossed over heavily with Marvel's Secret Wars event, after which the Thing elects to remain on the Beyonder's Battleworld when he discovers that the planet enables him to return to human form at will. A full third of the series' stories (issues 10 through 22) take place on Battleworld.

[edit] The Thing: Freakshow (2002)

In 2002, Marvel released a four-issue miniseries starring the Thing, in which he takes time away from the Fantastic Four to ride the rails across America, inadvertently stumbling on a deformed gypsy boy he once ridiculed as a teenager--now the super-strong main attraction of a troupe of traveling circus freaks--and a town full of Kree and Skrull warriors fighting over a Watcher infant. The series was written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Scott Kolins.

[edit] The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street (2003)

In 2003, Marvel released another four-issue miniseries starring the Thing. The story was of a less action-oriented and more character-driven and analytical type than is usual for the Thing. Some reviewers considered the story a nostalgic homage to Silver Age comics, while others found its noir-ish atmosphere "depressing".^[2]^[3] It was written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Dean Haspiel.

[edit] The Thing (2005-2006)

After the success of the Fantastic Four feature film and events in the Fantastic Four ongoing series which contrived to make Ben a millionaire, the Thing was once again given his own series, written by fan favorite Dan Slott and penciled by Andrea DiVito and, later, Kieron Dwyer. Despite becoming a critically-acclaimed fan favorite, in the midst of large-scale, company-wide events from both Marvel and DC, The Thing met with low sales and was canceled with #8.

[edit] Fictional character biography

[edit] Background

Born on Yancy Street in New York City's Lower East Side, to a Jewish^[4] family, Benjamin Jacob Grimm has an early life that was one of poverty and hardship, shaping young Grimm into a tough, streetwise scrapper. His older brother Daniel, whom Ben idolizes, is killed in a street gang fight when Ben is eight years old. This portion of his own life is modeled on that of Jack Kirby, who grew up on tough Delancey Street, whose brother died when he was young, whose father was named Benjamin, and who was named Jacob at birth. Following the death of his parents, Ben is raised by his Uncle Jake (who at some point married a much younger wife, Petunia).^[5]

Excelling in football as a high school student, Ben receives a full scholarship to Empire State University, where he first meets his eventual life-long friend in a teenaged genius named Reed Richards. Despite their being nearly a decade apart in age, science student Richards described his dream to one day build a space rocket to explore the regions of space around Mars, and Grimm jokingly agrees to fly that rocket when the day comes.

While in college, Ben becomes interested in a girl named Alynn Cambers. They briefly date, but after telling Ben to remember she loves him, she disappears. Ben finds her a few weeks later, and after walking through the park and telling her how much he cares about her, he proposes marriage. Reluctantly, she turns him down, stating she has to focus on an acting career. A heartbroken Ben flings the engagement ring into a pond and tries to forget about her. As the years pass, Alynn would become a movie star, and Ben would fall in love with Alicia Masters. Years later after he becomes the Thing, Ben would receive a letter from Alynn asking to meet with him. Ben is reluctant, due to his orange rocklike appearance, but does meet with her. To his surprise, she is permanently disfigured and barely able to walk due to a stroke she had suffered eighteen months earlier. She wants to ask him how he had coped with such a drastic change in appearance. Ben helps her realize she would still have a good life even with what she had gone through. ^[6]

Following college, Grimm joins the United States Army Air Force, where he is trained as a test pilot. (His exploits as a military aviator are chronicled to a limited extent in issue #7 of the "Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders" comic, in a story entitled "Objective: Ben Grimm!") Following this, he becomes an astronaut for NASA.

[edit] The Thing

The cover for Fantastic Four #51 (June 1966). Art by Jack Kirby.

Some years later, Reed Richards, now a successful scientist, once again makes contact with Grimm. Richards has built his spaceship, and reminds Grimm of his promise to fly the ship. After the government denies him permission to fly the spaceship himself, Richards plots a clandestine flight piloted by Grimm and accompanied by his future wife Susan Storm, who had helped provide funding for the rocket, and her brother Johnny Storm, who helped the group gain access to the launch system. Although reluctant to fly the rocket, Ben is persuaded to do so by Sue, for whom he has a soft spot. During this unauthorized ride into the upper atmosphere of Earth and the Van Allen Belts, they are pelted by a cosmic ray storm and exposed to radiation against which the ship's shields are no protection. Upon crashing down to Earth, each of the four learn that they have developed fantastic superhuman abilities. Grimm's skin is transformed into a thick, lumpy orange hide, which gradually evolves into his now-familiar craggy covering of large rocky plates. Richards proposes the quartet band together to use their new abilities for the betterment of humanity, and Grimm, in a moment of self-pity, adopts the super-heroic sobriquet, The Thing.^[7]

While still human, Ben had been dating Dr. Linda McGill. Although they had been seeing each other only a short time, Grimm cares deeply for her. The night before his big test flight, they go to a state fair, and he asks her if she would still care about him if he looked like one of the sideshow freaks. Linda says she cares about the man inside. After a night's sleep, he goes on the test flight which mutates him. He returns to his apartment, where Linda, who had heard about the crash, shows up. Upon seeing Ben, she runs away. In anger, Ben destroys his apartment, then goes to the nearest bridge he can find, intending to jump to his death. Linda appears, apologizes to him, and asks if they can have another chance together. Grimm, who does not want a relationship out of pity, yells at her, smashes part of the bridge, and tells her that it would never work. Linda eventually goes on to marry and have children with another man, but Grimm remains grateful to her for giving him the strength to go on. ^[8]

Trapped in his monstrous form, Grimm is an unhappy yet reliable member of the team. He trusts in his friend Reed Richards to one day develop a cure for his condition. However, when he encounters blind sculptress Alicia Masters, Grimm develops an unconscious resistance to being transformed back to his human form. Fearing that Masters prefers him to remain in the monstrous form of the Thing, Grimm's body rejects various attempts by Richards to restore his human form lest he lose the love of Masters. His unconscious fear keeps him in his rocky form, and Grimm remains a stalwart member of the Fantastic Four for years.

Fantastic Four #310 (January, 1988). The Thing gets rockier.

He leaves the team when he opts to remain on an alien planet where he can control his transformation to and from his rocky super-powered form. Upon returning to Earth, he learns that Alicia had become romantically involved with his teammate Johnny Storm during his absence. An angry Grimm wallows in self-pity for a time, but eventually returns to his surrogate family as leader of the Fantastic Four when Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman leave the team to raise their son Franklin. Ben invites Crystal and Ms. Marvel II (Sharon Ventura) to fill their slots. Soon after Sharon and Ben are irradiated with cosmic rays, Sharon becomes a lumpy Thing much like Ben was in his first few appearances while Ben mutates into a new rocky form that has been often mocked by fans as resembling a pineapple.

After being further mutated into the more monstrous rocky form and briefly being changed back to his human form, Grimm has once more returned to his traditional orange rocky form. He remains a steadfast member of the Fantastic Four and one of the most easily recognizable characters of the Marvel Universe.

[edit] Relationships

Grimm's relationship with his teammates has been a close but occasionally edgy one given his temper. He and the Torch (aka Johnny Storm) are always arguing and have often clashed, causing no end of mayhem in the FF HQ. When Storm started a relationship of his own with Alicia Masters and they became engaged, Grimm was upset. However, he had to concede that, unlike himself and his stone-covered body, Johnny could "be a man". ^[9] He even agreed to act as best man at their wedding. ^[10]

The relationship between Alicia and Johnny was vehemently disliked by many fans,^{[citation needed]} and was later retconned and explained that the Alicia that Johnny fell in love with was actually Lyja, a member of the shape-changing Skrull race. The real Alicia, who was kept in suspended animation, was soon rescued by the Fantastic Four and reunited with the Thing.

He calls Reed Richards "Stretch" given both the fact that he is naturally tall and can literally stretch his body. However, Grimm also holds Reed responsible for his condition since he dismissed the potential danger of the cosmic rays that gave them their powers, whereas Grimm took them very seriously. ^[11] At times of real frustration towards Reed, he even refers to him simply as "Richards". ^[12] ^[13]

He is the godfather of Reed and Sue's son Franklin who affectionately calls him "Uncle Ben".

The Thing has had a long-standing rivalry with the Incredible Hulk. The two refer to each other as "Grimm" and "Banner", and their feud isn't completely resolved.

[edit] In the 21st century

In a Fantastic Four comic published in 2005, Ben learns he is entitled to a large sum of money, his share of the Fantastic Four fortune, which Reed Richards had never touched, as he had the shares of the other teammates (who were family members) in order to pay off various debts of the group. The following year, spurred by the success of the Fantastic Four feature film (of which much of the press was centered on the portrayal of the Thing^[14] ) under writer Dan Slott, Ben began starring in his first solo title in more than 20 years. Slott's series, though a critical success, suffered from low sales, and was cancelled after the eighth issue.

The Thing uses his newfound wealth to build a community center in his old neighborhood on Yancy Street, the "Grimm Youth Center." Thinking the center is named after the Thing himself, the Yancy Street Gang plans to graffiti the building exterior, but discovers the building was actually named after Daniel Grimm, the Thing's deceased older brother, who had been a former leader of the gang. The relationship between the Yancy Streeters and the Thing is then effectively reconciled, or at least changed to a more good-natured, playful rivalry (as exemplified by the comic ending, with Yancy Streeters spray-painting the sleeping Thing).

Some personality traits of the cantankerously lovable, occasionally cigar-smoking, Jewish native of the Lower East Side are popularly recognized as having been inspired by those of co-creator Jack Kirby, who in interviews has said he intended Grimm to be an alter ego of himself.^[15] However, as was usual for comic-book characters of that era, no religion was publicly mentioned. Grimm has since been revealed to be Jewish, like Kirby, in Fantastic Four v3, #56, published in August 2002, in a story titled "Remembrance of Things Past". In the final issue of his solo series, Ben even agrees to finally have his very own Bar Mitzvah, it being 10 years since he began his "second life" as the Thing. To celebrate the ceremony, Ben organizes a poker tournament for every available superhero in the Marvel Universe.^[16]

[edit] Civil War/The Initiative

Initially in the Super Hero Civil War Ben is a reluctant member of Iron Man's side, until he witnesses a battle on Yancy Street in which Captain America's forces try to rescue captured allies held by Iron Man's forces. Old Fantastic Four foes the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master try to escalate the battle, using a mind-controlled Yancy Streeter to deliver a bomb. The young man dies and the Thing verbally blasts both sides for not caring about the civilians caught in the conflict. He announces that while he thinks the registration is wrong, he is also not going to fight the government and is thus leaving the country for France. While in France he meets Les Héros de Paris (The Heroes of Paris).^[17]^[18]

Ben returns to New York as both sides of the SHRA battle in the city. Oblivious to whichever side gets in his way, Ben mkes it his job to protect civilians from harm.^[19] His current status in the aftermath is unknown.

In the latest issue (March, 2007) Ben celebrates the Fantastic Four's 11th anniversary along with the Human Torch, and late-comers Reed and Sue. The aftermath of the Civil War is still being felt in this issue, as Ben and Johnny (and even Franklin) consider the future of the team and Reed and Sue's marriage. When Reed and Sue arrive near issue's end, they announce they are taking a break from the team and have found two replacement members: Black Panther, and Storm of the X-Men. The title of the story in this issue is a quote from Ben, "Come on, Suzie, don't leave us hangin'." ^[20]

Ben has been identified as Number 53 of the 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. ^[21]

[edit] World War Hulk

Ben once again tries to take on the Hulk within the events of World War Hulk in order to buy Reed Richards the time he needs to complete his plans for the Hulk. Ben gives his best shots, but the Hulk takes his punches without slowing down. The Hulk proceeds to knock out Ben by punching both sides of his head simultaneously and would have delivered a killing blow, if not for the timely arrival of the Sentry; which turned out to be a hologram created by Reed in a failed attempt to calm the Hulk down.^[22]He is later seen captive in Madison Square Garden, which the Hulk has turned into a gladiatoral arena with an obedience disk fitted on him.^[23]

Released from his imprisonment, Ben, Spider-Man and Luke Cage attack the Warbound, with Ben fighting Korg. Their battle is brought to an abrupt end when Hiroim repairs the damage to Manhattan Island, drawing the energy to do so from Ben and Korg. ^[24]

[edit] Secret Invasion

In the Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four miniseries, the Skrull Lyja, posing as Sue, sends the Baxter building, with Ben, Johnny, Franklin and Valeria inside, into the Negative Zone. Not long after their arrival, Ben has to protect Franklin and Valeria from an impending onslaught of giant insects.

[edit] Powers and abilities

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As a result of exposure to cosmic rays, the Thing possesses high levels of superhuman strength, stamina, and resistance to physical injury. His strength has continued to increase over the years due to a combination of further mutation and special exercise equipment designed for him by Reed Richards. He has been described as "not quite as strong as the Hulk, but close"^[25]. It has further been suggested by the Marvel Comics writer Mark Waid that The Thing is "strong enough to lift a battleship"^[26].

He is capable of surviving impacts of great strength and force without sustaining injury. He is also able to withstand gunfire from high caliber weapons as well as armor piercing rounds. The Thing's highly advanced musculature generates fewer fatigue toxins during physical activity, granting him superhuman levels of stamina.

Aside from his physical attributes, the Thing's senses can withstand greater levels of sensory stimulation than an ordinary human, with the exception of his sense of touch. His lungs possess greater efficiency and volume than those of an ordinary human. As a result, the Thing is capable of holding his breath for much greater periods of time.

Despite his brutish, even monstrous form, the Thing suffers no change in his personality nor his level of intelligence. Despite his greatly increased size, the Thing's agility and reflexes remain at the same level they had been prior to his transformation.

The Thing is an exceptionally skilled pilot, due to his time spent as a test pilot in the United States Air Force and as a member of the Fantastic Four. He is also a formidable and relentless hand to hand combatant. His fighting style incorporates elements of boxing, wrestling, judo, jujutsu, and street-fighting techniques, as well as hand-to-hand combat training from the military.

[edit] Other versions

[edit] 1602

In Neil Gaiman's 1602, Benjamin Grimm is the captain of the ship The Fantastick, before gaining his abilities from the Anomaly. His power is associated with the classical element of earth.

In the sequel 1602: Fantastick Four Benjamin has found work as an actor with William Shakespeare's troupe, where he can hide his monstrous form behind false whiskers as Falstaff. He is soon forced to reveal himself, however, when Otto von Doom's vulture soldiers kidnap Shakespeare.

[edit] Age of Apocalypse

In What If?: Age of Apocalypse, Ben is a member of the Defenders, the AoA version of the Avengers/Ultimates. In this reality, Legion kills both Professor Xavier and Magneto in the past, therefore the X-Men never exist and the Defenders are mankind's only hope. At some point, Apocalypse asked the Fantastic Four to become his Horsemen of Apocalypse. When they refused, he sends his son, Holocaust, to kill them. Thing is the only survivor from the attack, losing his right arm during the fight. Now using a metal prosthetic arm, he joins the Defenders to fight the forces of Apocalypse: Captain Britain (using Iron Man's armor), Weapon X, Brother Voodoo, Nate Grey, Colossus, Molecule Man, and Sauron, led by Captain America (who wields Thor's hammer, Mjolnir).

During the attack on Apocalypse's tower, Ben finds a street sign on the ground, which reads Yancy Street. He faces Holocaust once again, screaming out "Yer standing on Yancy Street! This Here's My Turf!" as he brings his fists down hard enough to fracture Holocaust's armor. Holocaust, however, overpowers and kills Ben, ripping the prosthetic from his body, and then blasting Ben with the weapon on his arm.

[edit] Earth-A

In this universe, Ben and Reed Richards are the only occupants of the experimental spacecraft. Ben is called "Mr. Fantastic" and has stretching and flame powers instead.

[edit] The End

In this setting, where the entire Sol System is being colonized by humanity, with humanity undergoing a Golden Age because of the use of technology developed by Reed Richards in an effort to create a utopia, The Thing is married to Alicia Masters with 3 super-powered children, residing on Mars with the Inhumans. He is now capable of shifting between human form and 'Thing' form at will.

In this setting, the Fantastic Four are in a state of flux, with the Human Torch a member of the Avengers, Susan Storm an archaeologist, the Thing a contented house-husband and Reed Richards a reclusive scientific hermit.

[edit] Heroes Reborn

In this alternate universe, Ben and Johnny share a more dangerous adversarial relationship, knowing each other even before the ill-fated spaceflight. Traveling to the remote location of the spacecraft, the two play a game of chicken. Since neither had powers at this point, both could have easily died in the crash.

[edit] House of M

In the House of M, Ben Grimm was the pilot in Reed Richards' voyage to space, alongside Susan Storm and John Jameson. Like the others, Grimm was mutated, though he was the only survivor of the rocket's explosion. Ben was transformed into a rock-skinned creature with superhuman strength and a diminished intellect. He was taken by Dr. Doom, who named him the It. The It became one of the Fearsome Four, though he was treated like an animal and was often the victim of Doom's frustrations. Tired of being mistreated, the It betrayed Doom and sided with Polaris after Doom tried to kill Magneto and Quicksilver. After Doom was defeated, the It ended up meeting Alicia Masters, who took him to the Human Resistance.

[edit] Marvel Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse comics Benjamin (pronounced "Ben-ya-meen") Grimm is a member of the Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four. The team uses power-packs to boost their talents to manifest at mecha-sized levels. Benjamin is a shy, intelligent, somewhat neurotic man with a stutter in his civilian identity; however, once he uses his meta-talents, his "serious badass" side comes to the fore. His meta-talent exo-skeletal armature is subsumed from miscellaneous urban materials such as bricks, cars, steel rods, concrete, etc. The team fights giant Godzilla-sized monsters from alien cultures that attack Earth for performing experiments which endanger all of reality. In New Mangaverse, the Fantastic Four, with the exception of the Human Torch, are murdered by ninja assassins employed by the Hand.

[edit] MC2

In the alternate future timeline of the Marvel universe published under the MC2 imprint, Ben is still a member of the Fantastic Four, whose roster has expanded to make them the Fantastic 5. In this future, he was married to Sharon Ventura and had a set of twin children by her (Jacob & Alyce), though they are now divorced. Much of the left half of his body has been replaced with cybernetic parts following a battle with Terrax. He always appears alongside the F5 whenever they appear in the Spider-Girl series and related miniseries.

[edit] New Amsterdam

In Marvel Two-in-One #50, Reed Richards advises Ben that his mutation is ongoing, and tells him that the cure he has developed for his condition will no longer work. Ben decides to borrow a time machine from Reed and travel back in time to give himself the cure in the past. He ends up fighting "himself", then forcing "him" to take the cure, which returns "him" to normal. When he returns to the present, however, nothing has changed, and Reed advises him that he succeeded only in creating an alternate universe.

In Marvel Two-in-One #100, Reed examines records of that trip and determines that Ben did not create that reality after all, based on a newspaper that shows the name of the city as "New Amsterdam" instead of "New York." Curious, Ben travels back to that reality, this time to its present. He arrives to find the city in ruins. He meets "himself" and learns that in this world, Spider-Man replaces The Thing in the Fantastic Four, and Ben Grimm settles down to a normal life as a bartender. Unfortunately, Galactus arrives soon after, kills the planet's superheroes, and devours most of the life essence of the planet. Ben wonders if he is to blame, he learns that the Silver Surfer did not come to Earth in this reality. The local version of Ben Grimm is the leader of the remaining humans in New Amsterdam.

[edit] Planetary

Warren Ellis' Planetary features a villainous take on the Fantastic Four known simply as The Four. One of them, a covert-ops pilot called Jacob Greene, is granted superhuman powers during a top-secret spaceflight and transforms into a rocky-skinned engine of destruction. Described by one character as "inexhaustible cannon-fodder", Greene's role in The Four's conspiracy seems to be purely as a weapon, something to be unleashed when the job simply requires the killing of everything standing between The Four and their goals. From his lack of dialogue Greene may no longer possess higher brain functions, but it's also possible that, given the revelation concerning the Reed Richards analogue's powers (Randall Dowling) Ellis is hinting that Greene shared Ben Grimm's repressed fury towards his teammate for sticking him with a monster's body, Dowling however took action to provide an outlet for Greene's anger while still retaining the use of his superhuman capacity for violence.

[edit] Ruins

In Warren Ellis' Ruins mini-series, Ben Grimm refuses to fly Reed Richards' ship the Astraea because it needs Lateral Monitors on it in order to be ready to fly. As a result, Reed asks Victor von Doom be the ship's pilot. This results in the horrific mutation and subsequent deaths of all on-board. Grimm avoids becoming the Thing, but is left to live with the guilt of thinking he could have prevented the tragedy.

[edit] Ultimate Thing

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In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Ben is Reed's childhood friend. When they were in school together, Ben would protect Reed from bullies and Reed would help Ben with his homework. Ben moved on to college and was invited to watch Reed's teleportation experiment. The experiment gave Ben a rocky hide which gave him incalculable strength. The Ultimate version of the Thing is highly durable to physical damage and physiologically stressful conditions, such as extreme temperatures and toxic breathing environments. He seems to weigh a lot more than the 616 version, requiring a special body suit to regulate his density. His physical strength is greater than that of his 616 counterpart, as he easily defeated The Hulk in physical combat; of course, the Hulk in question was from the Marvel Zombies universe and on Ultimate Power he easily knocked The Hulk unconscious and he put out seven tons per square inch of his hands when he easily demolished the machine. However, this Thing has taken his transformation even worse than his 616 counterpart, recently revealing that he has tried to commit suicide, and has at least once attacked Reed and still carries some resentment towards him, since Reed is admittedly responsible for his condition. Recently, after being revived after he was turned to glass and shattered by Diablo, Ben's normal orange color became blue for a while, changing back a few weeks later.

[edit] In other media

[edit] Film

The Thing is featured in the 2005 film released by 20th Century Fox, in which he is portrayed by Michael Chiklis. In this film, a small explanation is given for why his physical alterations are the most severe, as he is exposed to the cosmic cloud with least amount of protection. Dr. Doom manipulates The Thing's relationship with Reed and Sue, and tricks him into using an experimental machine to become Ben again; but he goes back into the machine and regains his powers to save Sue and Reed from being killed by Dr. Doom.

One difference in the film and the comic is Ben's military service. In the comic he was once an Air Force pilot, where as in the film the Human Torch refers to him a former SEAL.

Chiklis reprises his role as The Thing in the sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. In the film, Grimm serves as the best man at the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Grimm also takes pleasure in switching powers with Johnny as it turns him back to his human form and with Johnny's powers.

Stan Lee has stated that out of all the actors that portray his characters, Michael Chiklis is his personal favorite.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Television

Although The Thing has always been closely identified with the Fantastic Four, he did appear as a solo character in a bizarre and short-lived 1979 spin-off of the animated series The Flintstones, entitled Fred and Barney Meet the Thing. For this series, Grimm became a gangly underweight teenager named "Benjy" Grimm as a result of a failed attempt to cure his Thing form. Since further work using this method could make him physically even younger, he was forced to live with this form as the best he can have for now. However when he needs it, he is able to change himself into The Thing by striking together two special rings and the saying "Thing Ring! Do your thing!". The only other Marvel characters who were recurring in the series were the Yancy Street Gang (remade into "TV-friendly" practical jokers, rather than a violent street gang), who served as Benjy's principal antagonists. Despite the title of the series, The Thing hardly ever encountered the Flintstones characters.

The Thing is a regular character in the 1967 Fantastic Four cartoon voiced by Paul Frees.

The Thing is a regular character in the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon voiced by Ted Cassidy.

THe Thing is a regular character in the 1994 Fantastic Four cartoon voiced by Chuck McCann.

He later appears in the 90s Spider-Man cartoon (voiced by Patrick Pinney) during the "Secret Wars" storyline, along with the rest of the Fantastic Four, and plays a major role in the final conflict with Doctor Doom. Doom captures the Thing, reverts him back into his human form, uses the information he gives Ben to steal the Beyonder's power, and is only defeated when he turns his own weapon on him.

The Thing also makes a single episode appearance in the 90s Incredible Hulk cartoon with Chuck McCann reprising Thing. The episode seems to place this show in the same continuity with the Fantastic Four cartoon of the same decade as this episode plays off the Hulk's appearance in the other show. She-Hulk flirted with him, but Ben chose to rekindle his relationship with Alicia Masters.

In an episode of Saturday Night Live, Thing was a guest at the wedding of Superman (Bill Murray) and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder).

Most recently, Thing appears in the new Fantastic Four cartoon with the Fantastic Four symbol spray painted onto his chest. He is voiced by Brian Dobson

[edit] Video games

The Thing's very first video game appearance was in the Questprobe featuring the Human Torch and the Thing game for the PC.^[27]
The Thing's first console appearance was a cameo in the Spider-Man game based on the Spider-Man 1994 animated series for Sega Mega Drive and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. After reaching certain levels of the game, the player can call the Thing a limited number of times for assistance against enemies.
An evil doppelganger of the Thing appears as an enemy in Marvel Super Heroes: War of the Gems for the SNES.
The Thing is a playable character in the Fantastic Four game for the PlayStation.
The Thing is also playable in Fantastic Four (2005 video game) which is based on the 2005 film. The game was released on several consoles and the Thing was voiced by Michael Chiklis.
The Thing and the Human Torch are playable characters in the fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
The Thing is also a playable hero in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance voiced by Gregg Berger. He has special dialogue with Rhino, Karnak, Lockjaw, Crystal, and Uatu. The costumes available for him are his Classic costume, his Ultimate costume, his Original costume, and his Modern costume. A simulation disk has Thing protecting Mr. Fantastic from Rhino on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Omega Base.
The Thing is a playable character in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer for the various consoles.

[edit] Popular culture

In The Simpsons episode "I Am Furious Yellow", a senile/insane version of Stan Lee (Comic Book Guy refers to this as Lee's brain no longer being in "near-mint" condition) tries to cram a Thing action figure into a Batmobile toy. Also in the Treehouse of Horror XIV episode titled Stop the World, I Want to Goof Off, there is a quick moment where the Simpsons are turned into members of the Fantastic Four. Homer is the Thing.
In The Venture Brothers, the character of "Ned" in the Impossible Family resembles the Thing. He is pale orange, lumpy, and described as "a giant callus." He is stronger than ordinary people, but not nearly as strong or impervious to harm as The Thing.
He is also mentioned in the movie Reservoir Dogs, where Mr. Orange in a conversation with Holdaway states that Joe Cabot "looks just like the Thing".
The Thing's genitalia, along with that of fellow Fantastic Four member Mr. Fantastic, is discussed in the film Mallrats in a scene guest-starring Stan Lee
The Thing's famous catchphrase "It's Clobberin' time!" is twice spoofed on Futurama, first in the episode 'Raging Bender' as "It's Bendering Time!" and later in 'The Luck of the Fryish' as "It's clovering time!"
In British sci-fi sitcom Red Dwarf, One of the charachters, Dave Lister, uses the Thing's catchprase, "It's Clobberin' Time" after being robbed of the ability to fear.
Porky Pig mentions it in the Looney Tunes episode "My Generation G-G-Gap" pronouncing it "It's Clo-Clo-Clobberin' T-T-Time".
Xzibit references The Thing in his song X with the line "Niggas be weak, I'm concrete like Benjamin Grimm".

[edit] Catchphrases

"It's clobberin' time!" (first uttered in Fantastic Four #22, "The Return of the Mole Man")
"Wotta revoltin' development."
"I'm the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing."
"...Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew..."
"I'm the idol o' millions."
"... my Aunt Petunia." (also first mentioned in Fantastic Four 22)
"...As weak as one of 'em spineless Yancy Streeters..."
"Here comes handsome Ben...!!!" (Used in the Spanish dubbed version of the Fantastic 4 animated TV series from 1967)
"Mebbe I ain't no Hulk...."

In addition, the Thing habitually refers to Reed Richards as "Stretcho","Stretch" and "Big Brain". He refers to the Human Torch as "Match-Head" or "Matchstick". The Thing calls Sue Storm "Susie-Q".

His catchphrase, "It's clobberin' time" was translated into French when, during the Marvel Civil War, Thing moved to Paris - although he continually mispronounced it.

It was also borrowed by Leonardo in "Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" issue #3

In the movie Robot Jox, the character Tex Conway uses the phrase "It's Clobberin' Time" to let Achillies know that ranged combat has ended and hand to hand combat has begun.