Marvel is celebrating the MCU’s upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps movie by giving iconic Marvel heroes the added powers of Ben Grimm’s the ThingIncluding a version of Iron Man With the rocky hero’s incredible biology. We’ll take a look at the thing’s new armor and Compare it to the armored suits the thing has used in the past (Spoiler: There’s one that blows the new model out of the water.)
Marvel’s the thing! Variant Covers’ will be launched throughout November, vi Superstar artists transform heroes including Black Panther, Daredevil and Captain America into new versions of The Thing. One of the stars of the show is a new version of Don Heck’s cover for Tales of Suspense #39Showing Tony Stark fit. The art comes from Iban Coello and will appear on select copies from November 27th Iron Man #2.
In this version, Stark’s iconic red and gold armor is much larger, with a rocky pattern on the gold elements. Ting’s armor recreates his unique brow and jaw, with his gigantic fists making it clear he doesn’t need repulsor beams to pack a punch.
The thing’s orange armor is the best redesign he’s ever gotten, giving him an Iron Man-style suit that’s all his own.
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Marvel said the new covers are intended to celebrate a “Major New Saga” Come to Ryan North and Iban Coello Fantastic practice Early in 2025, as well as the upcoming MCU installment where the Thing will be played by Ebon Moss-Bachrach. Some of the new covers show the thing with She-Hulk’s gamma strength and Nightcrawler’s teleportation powers. The variant cover initiative will run as follows:
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The thing! Variant Cover Initiative |
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funny |
Release date |
Variant Cover Artist |
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Avengers #20 |
November 6th |
Paco Medina |
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Amazing Spider-Man #61 |
November 13th |
Aaron Kuder |
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Captain America #15 |
November 13th |
Pitt Woods |
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Inconvenient X-MEN #5 |
November 13th |
Javier Garron |
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Daredevil #15 |
November 20 |
Andrew Bresson |
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PHOENIX #5 |
November 20 |
Elizabeth Tork |
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Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #7 |
November 20 |
Todd Nauk |
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Wolverine #3 |
November 20 |
Giuseppe Camuncoli |
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Dazzler #3 |
November 27 |
Ario Anindito |
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Iron Man #2 |
November 27 |
Ivan Coello |
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Spider-Boy #13 |
November 27 |
Chrissie Zullo |
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Fantastic Four #27 |
December 18th |
Luciano Vecchio |
While the Thing’s Iron Man form clearly uses a lot more material than Tony Stark’s traditional version, Ben Grimm is a surprisingly good fit for the role. In Marvel lore, Grimm was a USAF test pilot before his transformation. Indeed, the reason he was on the voyage that gave the Fantastic Four their powers was that Reed Richards believed he was capable of expertly piloting his new experimental spaceship. Interestingly, James Rhodes – one of the only other people Tony has trusted with their own Iron Man armor – is also a pilot, which puts the thing in good company.
This isn’t the first time the thing has used armor
Without his powers, Fantastic Four’s hero falls back on tech
While the Thing’s variant cover offers his latest armor, it’s not necessarily his best. Ben Grimm has a long history with wearing armor, dating back to the 1975s Fantastic Four #167. In this issue by Roy Thomas and George Perez, a battle with the Hulk nullified the powers of the Thing, causing him to return to his human form. in response, Reed Richards created a powerful exoskeleton that replicated the thing’s rocky body and immense strength. The suit has returned repeatedly over the years, and was even responsible for a new superhero in Darla Deering’s ‘Miss Thing’, with the pop star wearing the armor after being forced to fill in for the Fantastic Four in emergency situations.
Hulk’s gamma radiation and the Thing’s cosmic radiation are opposites in Marvel lore, with the latter being one of the Hulk’s few weaknesses. The two cancel each other out, so fighting the Hulk nullified the Thing’s powers.
Ben Grimm has also used armor on other occasions, for example in Jonathan Hickman and Neil Edwards’ Fantastic Four #581. In this issue, Reed’s father Nathaniel Richards travels back in time to ask Reed, Ben and a young Victor of Doom for help, with Doom providing a powerful exoskeleton for Ben to use long before he received any superpowers. Most impressive of all, Aron Coleite, Joe Pokaski, Dan Panosian and Mark Brooks. Ultimate X-Men/Fantastic Four Annual #1 Introduced a future version of Ben who used a metallic orange exoskeleton, having been ‘cured’ of his powers. This version not only looked the best of all Thing’s armor, but included advanced weapons.
Costumes and characters from Marvel’s variant cover initiatives have made it into mainstream continuity before, so fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Things Iron Man Armor pop up in future Fantastic practice Stories – For now though, it’s awesome simply seeing the design and its latest twist on Ben Grimm’s long history with power-enhancing armor.
Iron Man #2 Coming November 27th from Marvel Comics.