Ebon Moss-Bachrach Teases ‘The Fantastic Four,’ Talks Cast Group Chat

Ebon Moss-Bachrach is shedding some light on The Fantastic Four, which announced its cast earlier this month.

The Bear star will portray Ben Grimm/The Thing, with Pedro Pascal starring as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch in the newest iteration of Marvel’s First Family.

While stopping by Jimmy Kimmel Live! ahead of the SAG Awards on Saturday, Moss-Bachrach noted that the cast already has a group chat they’ve been texting in.

“Pedro started a group text a couple days ago,” he told the late night host. “I have his number, so it says Pedro Pascal, and then there’s two +44 [the U.K. country code] numbers. I don’t know which one’s Vanessa and which one is Joseph. But everybody said something! Everyone’s put a little image or a sticker or a gif or something out there, so people are invested, I guess? No one’s being coy! Everyone showed up. It’s nice, it’s nice.”

He also shared that his take on The Thing will mostly be performance capture, as opposed to a suit like Michael Chiklis wore in the 2005 Fantastic Four, noting that with today’s technology, a suit might seem a little like “cosplay” and “amateur.”

While Moss-Bachrach stayed mum on the film’s actual story, he explained that he read the full script. When Kimmel asked if he could confirm it takes place in the ’60s, since the promo art they put out on Feb. 14 made it look that way, the actor simply said: “That image does seem to be ’60s-themed.”

Elsewhere in the conversation, the No Hard Feelings actor recalled where he was when his agent first told him the news in August that he had been cast in the film.

“I got a call from my agent — and I wasn’t thinking about work at all because writers were striking and then actors were probably going to strike — and he said, ‘Yeah, they asked you to play The Thing,’” he recounted to the late night host. “And I remember, because I was right on Fifth Avenue and 21st Street [in New York City], and I was so shocked, and I was walking, and the next thing I realized, I was right in front of Astor Wines. So, I went in and bought a bunch of mezcal.”