Panel: Ioan Gruffudd and Michael Chiklis Talk Fantastic Four
- aaroncynic
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
The superhero movie landscape was a little different a couple decades ago, before the MCU in its current form began dominating both the box office and the small screen by releasing multiple movies and shows nearly every year. While we had plenty of superhero shows and movies in the early aughts, they weren’t as omnipresent in the entertainment landscape as they’ve been in the last decade.
In 2005, the second live-action attempt at Fantastic Four was released, starring Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis. It received decidedly mixed reviews and spawned one sequel, the Rise of the Silver Surfer, before being rebooted in 2015 to an abysmal reception, and again in 2025, garnering overwhelmingly positive reviews.
With its latest iteration launching phase six of the Marvel universe, the 2005 version almost feels like a cult classic. It might not have grossed what First Steps did or had the same amount of enthusiasm from critics, but it’s still a damn fine movie. On Sunday at C2E2, Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards) and Michael Chiklis (The Thing) sat down to talk with fans about it.
Chiklis said that Fantastic Four was among the first four comics he bought as a child and it was his favorite growing up. “My favorite comic was Fantastic Four…I was very young, and I already knew I wanted to be an actor. I said to my brother at some point, ‘if they ever make a movie of this I’m gonna play The Thing.’ Somehow that happened,” he said. “I was like 10 or 12 years old when I said that, so when I found myself doing it, I was like ‘how did this happen,’ but I found myself doing it.”
Gruffudd said that after they found their feet, the cast became something of a family, which worked well for the film.
“As actors, at the beginning you’re immersed in your own character and you’re immersed in bringing that to life, and for me there was a lot of pressure to bring this character to life. Because he’s such a beloved character from quintessentially American comic books. So here I was, a Brit, coming to fill these big shoes. We were all sort of figuring out our characters. Michael was dealing with not just his character but the costume element. We were all just figuring it out and realizing we were in something big and extraordinary. After that process of unease and figuring it out, through the script and what it asked us to do, we became this family. It was sort of natural scenes we had together. There was a lot of fun, a lot of banter, and I think that transferred into the screen.”
Gruffudd said while he wasn’t familiar with the comics initially, he immersed himself in them in order to find himself in Reed Richards.
“Because I wasn’t familiar with the comic book, I spent a lot of time reading the comic books, the anthologies. It’s a bit like playing a historical character…there’s a wealth of books and historical records,” said Gruffudd. “I think I found him there and realized I have him in me somewhere, I just have to bring that out. It’s been such a feeling of pride for me when people come to me at these conventions saying that they feel the same way. They feel I have brought that character from the page to life. I always feel very proud when I hear that.”
Chiklis added that the famous suit he had to don to play The Thing helped shape how he played the character. He said it was one of the reasons he immediately connected with the character.
“I think that was one of the best decisions I made, even though be careful what you wish for... I was the one who insisted we use a practical costume. I didn’t want it to be CGI,” said Chiklis. “The people at Spectral Motion did an amazing job, although I think their focus in the first movie was really on the look of the character and not that a human being would be in the suit,” he joked.
“I don’t regret the choice and I’m glad they did it,” Chiklis added.
“Ben Grimm is a man who’s trapped in a body that he can’t get out of. That was easy to play because I was trapped in a body I didn’t want to be in. What I’m most proud of is that I was able through all of that to bring the humanity of the character through all of that and it works.”
