Moss-Bachrach Teases THE FANTASTIC 4: FIRST STEPS Performance, Working with Andy Serkis, and Clobberin’ Time

Excitement is building for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first major adaptation of the iconic First Family in The Fantastic 4: First Steps.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, known for his role in The Bear, takes on the role of Ben Grimm, a.k.a. The Thing, and he recently shared insights into his experience on Jimmy Kimmel Live.

The upcoming film introduces Moss-Bachrach’s motion-capture portrayal of The Thing. Though the final design for the character is still in development, Moss-Bachrach has already seen an early version.

The actor said: "I've seen a very crude rendering as it takes a while to build this stuff. They have so many animators working on this. I wear these motion capture suits, two cameras right here so they're capturing absolutely everything, every nuance, every expression, every thought in my eye."

The process was made smoother thanks to motion-capture pioneer Andy Serkis. Serkis, whose company The Imaginarium operates out of Pinewood Studios, provided guidance during filming.

Moss-Bachrach added: "Andy Serkis, who's sort of the godfather of motion capture, he's got this company called The Imaginarium, which is at Pinewood Studio where we shot Fantastic Four, and he was very generous.”

Moss-Bachrach also noted that he brought the character's iconic battle cry, "It's clobberin' time," to life on set though he’s uncertain if it will make the final cut. "I don't have final cut on this one so we'll see," he laughed.

When asked about rumors of Robert Downey Jr. appearing as Doctor Doom, Moss-Bachrach dodged the question and jokingly responded:

"Yeah, we live together now, he asked me to move in with him. It's not gonna happen, I've been through rigorous media training."

The film is set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, “Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet.

“Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”

The movie is being directed by Matt Shakman from a screenplay by Josh Friedman, who was brought in to rewrite the script originally written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer.

The Fantastic 4: First Steps is released on July 25, 2025.