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 Thing, including a version of Iron Man with the rocky hero’s incredible biology. We’ll be taking a look at the Thing’s new armor and comparing 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 launch across November, as 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 #39, showing Tony Stark suiting up. The art comes from Iban Coello and will appear on select copies of November 27’s Iron Man #2.
In this version, Stark’s iconic red and gold armor is far larger, with a rocky pattern on the gold elements. Thing’s armor recreates his unique brow and jaw, with his gigantic fists making it clear he doesn’t need repulsor rays to pack a punch.
The Thing’s orange armor is the best redesign he’s ever received, giving him an Iron Man-style suit that’s all his own.
The Thing Gets His Own Iron Man Armor in Variant Cover Tribute
Ben Grimm Becomes Numerous Marvel Heroes in Tribute Covers
Marvel has stated that the new covers are intended to celebrate a “major new saga” coming to Ryan North and Iban Coello’s Fantastic Four 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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|---|---|---|
 |
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Comic |
Release Date |
Variant Cover Artist |
|
AVENGERS #20 |
November 6 |
Paco Medina |
|
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #61 |
November 13 |
Aaron Kuder |
|
CAPTAIN AMERICA #15 |
November 13 |
Pete Woods |
|
UNCANNY X-MEN #5 |
November 13 |
Javier Garron |
|
DAREDEVIL #15 |
November 20 |
Andrei Bressan |
|
PHOENIX #5 |
November 20 |
Elizabeth Torque |
|
SPIDER-GWEN: THE GHOST-SPIDER #7 |
November 20 |
Todd Nauck |
|
WOLVERINE #3 |
November 20 |
Giuseppe Camuncoli |
|
DAZZLER #3 |
November 27 |
Ario Anindito |
|
IRON MAN #2 |
November 27 |
Iban Coello |
|
SPIDER-BOY #13 |
November 27 |
Chrissie Zullo |
|
FANTASTIC FOUR #27 |
December 18 |
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 is 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 likewise a pilot, putting 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 up his latest armor, it’s not necessarily his best. Ben Grimm has a long history with wearing armor, going back to 1975’s Fantastic Four #167. In that issue from Roy Thomas and George Perez, a battle with the Hulk nullified the Thing’s powers, causing him to revert 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 circumstances.
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, hence why fighting the Hulk nullified Thing’s powers.
Ben Grimm has also used armor on other occasions, for example in Jonathan Hickman and Neil Edwards’ Fantastic Four #581. In that issue, Reed’s father Nathaniel Richards travels back in time to ask Reed, Ben and a young Victor von 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 weaponry.
Costumes and characters from Marvel’s variant cover initiatives have made it into mainstream continuity before, so fans shouldn’t be surprised to see Thing‘s Iron Man armor pop up in future Fantastic Four stories – though for now, it’s awesome simply to see the design and its latest twist on Ben Grimm’s long history with power-enhancing armor.
Iron Man #2 is coming November 27 from Marvel Comics.
Iron Man
Anthony “Tony” Edward Stark, AKA Iron Man, is a Marvel Comics superhero who has enjoyed several years of the spotlight and has become a mainstay in several Marvel media franchises. After suffering a critical injury, Tony creates a specialized armored suit powered by an arc reactor, which keeps him alive. Egotistical but good-hearted, Tony utilizes his super intellect and inventions to fight to protect humanity from various threats, eventually becoming a founding member of the Avengers. In 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was kicked off with the film Iron Man, which starred Robert Downey Jr. as the superhero.
