Marvel casts Jewish actor for Jewish superhero in upcoming ‘Fantastic Four’ movie

According to the comic book’s lore Before becoming The Thing, Benjamin Jacob “Ben” Grimm was born to Jewish parents on New York City’s Lower East Side. He grew up as a poverty-stricken, streetwise scrapper before attending university on an American football scholarship.

Ben eventually becomes an astronaut and, alongside the three other members of his quartet, is accidentally exposed to cosmic rays while in space, granting each of them special abilities.

The Thing, first appearing in the original Fantastic Four comic book series in 1961 created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, has an orange rock-like skin and superhuman strength. He is temperamental and witty, known for his trademark battle cry, “It’s clobberin’ time!”, and perpetually distressed about his apparently monstrous appearance.

In keeping with early comic book tradition, Ben Grimm’s religion is not explicitly disclosed until, around four decades after his creation, his Jewish heritage is revealed in a series of flashbacks.

In the comics, The Thing recites the Shema, a Jewish prayer, over a dying friend and later celebrates his Bar Mitzvah 13 years after entering his “second life” as The Thing.

Filming for “The Fantastic Four” is rumoured to begin this summer with a planned release on July 25, 2025.