Alternative versions of the Thing

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The Thing is a Marvel Comics superhero and a member of the Fantastic Four. He has many alternative counterparts throughout the Marvel Multiverse.

1602

In Neil Gaiman's 1602, Benjamin Grimm is the captain of the ship The Fantastick, before gaining his abilities from the Anomaly. His power is associated with the classical element of earth.

In the sequel 1602: Fantastick Four Benjamin has found work as an actor with William Shakespeare's troupe, where he can hide his monstrous form behind false whiskers as Falstaff. He is soon forced to reveal himself, however, when Otto von Doom's vulture soldiers kidnap Shakespeare.

Age of Apocalypse

In the Age of Apocalypse, Ben Grimm never became The Thing, but instead was a Human High Consult Agent, fighting Apocalypse's forces, alongside Clint Barton (Hawkeye), Donald Blake (Thor), Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel), Gateway, Gwen Stacy, Tony Stark (Iron Man), Susan Storm (Invisible Woman), and Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom). In his place, Bruce Banner becomes a Grey-Hulk-like monster called The Thing.

What If?: X-Men Age of Apocalypse

In What If?: X-Men Age of Apocalypse #1 (2007), Ben is a member of the Defenders, the Age of Apocalypse version of the Avengers/Ultimates. In this reality, Legion kills both Professor Xavier and Magneto in the past, therefore the X-Men never exist and the Defenders are mankind's only hope. At some point, Apocalypse asks the Fantastic Four to become his Horsemen of Apocalypse. When they refuse, he sends his son, Holocaust, to kill them. Thing is the only survivor from the attack, losing his right arm during the fight. Now using a metal prosthetic arm, he joins the Defenders to fight the forces of Apocalypse: Captain Britain (using Iron Man's armor), Weapon X, Brother Voodoo, Nate Grey, Colossus, Molecule Man, and Sauron, led by Captain America (who wields Thor's hammer, Mjolnir).

During the attack on Apocalypse's tower, Ben finds a street sign on the ground, which reads Yancy Street. He faces Holocaust once again, screaming out "Yer standing on Yancy Street! This here's my turf!" as he brings his fists down hard enough to fracture Holocaust's armor. Holocaust, however, overpowers and kills Ben, ripping the prosthetic from his body, and then blasting Ben with the weapon on his arm.

Earth-A

In this universe, Ben and Reed Richards are the only occupants of the experimental spacecraft that exposes them to cosmic rays. Ben is called "Mr. Fantastic" and has stretching and flame powers instead. This version first appeared in Fantastic Four #118 (January 1972).

The End

In this setting, the entire Sol System is being colonized by humanity, with humanity undergoing a Golden Age because of the use of technology developed by Reed Richards in an effort to create a utopia. The Thing is married to Alicia Masters, has three super-powered children, and resides on Mars with the Inhumans. He is now capable of shifting between human form and 'Thing' form at will. The Fantastic Four are in a state of flux, with the Human Torch a member of the Avengers, Susan Storm an archaeologist, the Thing a contented house-husband and Reed Richards a reclusive scientific hermit.

Heroes Reborn

In this alternate universe, Ben and Johnny share a more dangerous adversarial relationship, knowing each other even before the ill-fated spaceflight. Traveling to the remote location of the spacecraft, the two play a game of chicken. Since neither had powers at this point, both could have easily died in the crash.

House of M

In the House of M limited series, Ben Grimm is the pilot in Reed Richards' voyage to space, alongside Susan Storm and John Jameson. Like the others, Grimm is mutated, though he is the only survivor of the rocket's explosion. Ben is transformed into a rock-skinned creature with superhuman strength and a diminished intellect. He is taken in by Dr. Doom, who names him the It. The It becomes one of the Fearsome Four, though he is treated like an animal and often the victim of Doom's frustrations. Tired of being mistreated, the It betrays Doom and sides with Polaris after Doom tries to kill Magneto and Quicksilver. After Doom is defeated, the It is found by the Human Resistance, convinces them he is not a mutant, then meets Alicia Masters, who asks him to join the Human resistance.

Marvel Mangaverse

In the Marvel Mangaverse comics Benjamin (pronounced "Ben-ya-meen") Grimm is a member of the Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four. The team uses power-packs to boost their talents to manifest at mecha-sized levels. Benjamin is a shy, intelligent, somewhat neurotic man with a stutter in his civilian identity; however, once he uses his meta-talents, his "serious badass" side comes to the fore. His meta-talent exo-skeletal armature is subsumed from miscellaneous urban materials such as bricks, cars, steel rods, concrete, etc. The team fights giant Godzilla-sized monsters from alien cultures that attack Earth for performing experiments which endanger all of reality. In New Mangaverse, the Fantastic Four, with the exception of the Human Torch, are murdered by ninja assassins employed by the Hand.

MC2

In the alternate future timeline of the Marvel universe published under the MC2 imprint, Ben is still a member of the Fantastic Four, whose roster has expanded to make them the Fantastic 5. In this future, he is married to Sharon Ventura and has a set of twin children by her (Jacob & Alyce), though they are now divorced. Much of the left half of his body has been replaced with cybernetic parts following a battle with Terrax (Although it is later revealed that the metal is actually an armour designed to help his damaged body heal). He appears alongside the F5 whenever they appear in the Spider-Girl series and related miniseries.

New Amsterdam

In Marvel Two-in-One #50 (April 1979), Reed Richards advises Ben that his mutation is ongoing, and tells him that the cure he has developed for his condition will not work. Ben decides to borrow a time machine from Reed and travel back in time to give himself the cure in the past. He ends up fighting "himself", then forcing "him" to take the cure, which returns "him" to normal. When he returns to the present, however, nothing has changed, and Reed advises him that he succeeded only in creating an alternate universe.

In Marvel Two-in-One #100 (June 1983), Reed examines records of that trip and determines that Ben did not create that reality after all, based on a newspaper that shows the name of the city as "New Amsterdam" instead of "New York." Curious, Ben travels back to that reality, this time to its present. He arrives to find the city in ruins. He meets "himself" and learns that in this world, Spider-Man replaces The Thing in the Fantastic Four, and Ben Grimm settles down to a normal life as a bartender. Unfortunately, Galactus arrives soon after, kills the planet's superheroes, and drains most of the water from the planet. The local version of Ben Grimm is the leader of the remaining humans in New Amsterdam, and are faced with attacks by the Red Skull.

Ruins

In Warren Ellis' 1995 Ruins mini-series, Ben Grimm refuses to fly Reed Richards' ship the Astraea because it needs lateral monitors on it in order to be ready to fly. As a result, Reed asks Victor von Doom be the ship's pilot. This results in the horrific mutation and subsequent deaths of all on-board. Grimm avoids becoming the Thing, but is left to live with the guilt of thinking he could have prevented the tragedy.

Ultimate Marvel

In the Ultimate Marvel universe, Ben is Reed's childhood friend. When they were in school together, Ben would protect Reed from bullies and Reed would help Ben with his homework. Ben moves on to college and is invited to watch Reed's teleportation experiment. The experiment gives Ben a rocky hide and enormous strength. The Ultimate version of the Thing is highly durable to physical damage and physiologically stressful conditions, such as extreme temperatures and toxic breathing environments. He apparently weighs a lot more than the 616 version, requiring a special body suit to regulate his density. No upper limit for his strength has so far been established, although, he was once calculated to be exerting seven tons of pressure per square inch with his bare hands on a machine designed to measure his strength (which was subsequently destroyed by the effort). This version of the Thing has taken his transformation even worse than his 616 counterpart, carrying ongoing resentment towards Reed Richards (since Reed is admittedly responsible for his condition), and recently revealing that he has tried to commit suicide. Recently, after being revived after he was turned to glass and shattered by Diablo, Ben's normal orange color becomes blue for a while, changing back a few weeks later. In Ultimate Enemy it was revealed that his scales had been falling off recently. At the end he sheds his stone skin for a new form with unknown powers. In the first issue of Ultimate Mystery, SHIELD scientists and doctors conjecture that Ben's orange rock state was a chrysalis stage leading to his new form - Ben's human self with the super-human strength and invulnerability of his rock form, and shines purple energy when his powers are activated.

Contact with Skrulls

In an alternate version of the Ultimate Marvel universe created when the FF undid the accident that gave them their powers, Ben was the last powerless human on Earth after the Skrulls provided humanity with pills that gave everyone on Earth abilities, reasoning that he was comfortable with who he was. This decision saved his life when the Skrull were revealed to be interested in conquering Earth rather than helping it, with Ben easily defeating the Super-Skrull- here the Skrull Emperor who used an anti-assassination suit allowing him to duplicate all powers within a 500-mile radius, only to realise after Ben points it out that he has no powers when Ben is the last human alive- and travelling back in time to reset history to normal.

Adam Warlock

On Counter Earth, counterparts of the Fantastic Four hijack and experimental spaceship in order to be the first humans in space. Man-Beast negates the effects of the cosmic radiation for all of them except Reed Richards who succumbs to the effects a decade later^[1]. Ben Grimm's counterpart is shown though nothing is specifically said about him.

What If?

In "What if Doctor Doom had Become the Thing?" (February 2005), Doom befriends Reed during their college days, and Ben is left out. Dropping out of college, Ben joins the army, earning the rank of sergeant. Reed and Doom, meanwhile, go ahead with their experimental rocket. When the cosmic rays turn Doom into a Thing-like creature, he attacks Reed, sending him into a gamma bomb test site, where Ben is stationed. Ben saves Reed from the bomb's radiation, but is transformed into a Hulk-like creature. Calling himself "Grimm", he fights and defeats Doom. After Reed calms him down, Ben decides to join him in forming the Fantastic Four.

What If? Vol. II #11

In What If? vol. 2 #11 (March 1990), the origins of the Fantastic Four are retold in four stories, each showing how the heroes lives would have changed if all four had gained the same powers as the individual members of the original Fantastic Four.

• Fire powers: In this alternate history the cosmic rays give the four the powers of the Human Torch. They decide to use their powers for good, and become the Fantastic Four. They battle such menaces as the Mole Man and the alien race Skrulls. While battling the mystic Miracle Man, he brings to life a statue advertising a monster movie called "The Monster from Mars." When the heroes set fire to the monster statue of the monster, the fire engulfs a local apartment building, killing young Angelica Parsons. Following Parsons's death, the team disband. Although the others take up 'normal lives', Ben Grimm continues a career as a superhero, joining the Avengers as the Human Torch.

• Elastic powers: In this alternate history, Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm are bombarded with cosmic radiation and develop the ability to stretch. Deciding not to become superheroes, Ben Grimm and Sue Storm discover their love for one another and settle down to raise a family, never using their stretching powers again. Reed Richards devotes his life to science. Johnny Storm becomes the celebrity Mister Fantastic.

• Monstrous forms: The cosmic rays in this alternate history transform Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, and Sue Storm into monstrous creatures. They relocate to live on Monster Isle.^[2]

• Invisibility powers: In the final What If? story, Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, and Sue Storm gain different aspects of the mainstream Sue Storm's power—Sue can turn invisible, Reed project invisibility, Ben projects invisible force-fields, Johnny can become intangible. They join Colonel Nick Fury's new C.I.A. unit, codenamed S.H.I.E.L.D..^[3]

Marvel Zombies

In this mini-series, the Thing appears, along with the other three Fantastic Four, to be a cannibalistic zombie, because of a virus infection, that has spread to all heroes. He is killed by Ultimate Doctor Doom, when travelling to the Ultimate Universe through an inter-dimensional portal (Doom ripped his arm off and beat him with it).

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