Matt Shakman and the ‘Fantastic Four’ Team Found a Rock Named Jennifer To Stand in For The Thing

In the lead-up to the release of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, director Matt Shakman and the film’s principal cast told anyone who would listen that they wanted to use as many practical effects as possible.

After years of being criticized for its over-reliance on VFX effects, Marvel has made a concerted effort to ground their films.

With that said, the team had their work cut out for them. As opposed to many of Marvel’s other characters, the Fantastic Four’s powers resulted in physical changes to the heroes.

Photo: IMDB

That is especially true of Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s Ben Grimm/The Thing.

Introducing Jennifer

To help ground The Thing as much as possible, Shakman and his team actually cast a rock named Jennifer as Bachrach’s stand-in.

Photo: Marvel

“We went out to the desert and found a rock that looked exactly how we thought The Thing should look,” Shakman explained to Empire. “And we filmed it in every single shot that The Thing appears in in the movie, under every lighting environment.”

Unlike the 2005 version of The Fantastic Four that saw Michael Chiklis wear makeup and prosthetics when playing The Thing, Bachrach wore a motion capture suit for the role.

The Fantastic Four (2005). Photo: Marvel.

The Benefits of a Rock

By using Jennifer as a stand-in, Shakman and his team were likely better able to ensure that the lighting was correct for each scene.

Matt Shakman. Source: Deadline

Hopefully, the team’s attention to detail will pay off.

The Fantastic Four: First Steps will hit theaters on July 25, 2025.

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