20th Century Fox’s first two Fantastic Four adaptations missed the mark in a lot of ways, but having Michael Chiklis play Ben Grimm/The Thing definitely wasn’t one of them. Chiklis was a fan of the the Thing long before he was cast in Tim Story’s original 2005 film. And Stan Lee later hailed his performance as his all-time favorite bit of Marvel casting. But soon, a new actor will fill this role in Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated Fantastic Four reboot. And Chiklis has his own ideas for how to resurrect the franchise.
While chatting with ScreenRant, Chiklis was asked for his thoughts on how Marvel should handle the FF’s next cinematic outing. In his view, it all comes down to capturing the right tone. But he also had one key piece of advice for the costume department.
“Go CGI if you can [laughs],” said Chiklis. “Wardrobe was something else, but it was still a pretty amazing experience. Just understand, the real tone and tenor of the Fantastic Four is as we did it. It’s not meant to be dark and brooding. It’s never going to be The Dark Knight. Don’t try to make it that. Don’t expect it to be that. The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing was from Brooklyn and he was a Dodgers fan. They were a sweet family and that’s the way it’s meant to be. It wasn’t meant to be hardcore and dark and brooding. Try to make it that, you will fail.”
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Chiklis has frequently discussed how uncomfortable his prosthetic Thing suit was in both Fantastic Four and 2007’s Rise of the Silver Surfer. In fact, he went so far as to liken the experience to “being in your own personal torture chamber” while speaking with EW last year. Regardless, motion capture is probably the right way to go. Even Fox seemed to learn that lesson when they made their own Fantastic Four reboot in 2015. Unfortunately, the film didn’t fare much better than either of Chiklis’ movies.
Jon Watts is directing Marvel’s Fantastic Four reboot after previously helming all three of the studio’s Spider-Man films. No release date has been set yet.
Do you agree with Chiklis’ thoughts on how to handle the Fantastic Four’s return to the big screen? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading: Fantastic Four Vol. 1: New Departure, New Arrivals
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