Mila Kunis could play The Thing in Marvel’s Fantastic Four movie

Actress Mila Kunis could be taking her talents to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a surprising role as part of one of Marvel comic books’ first superhero teams.

Kunis, 39, began appearing in television and film during the 1990s but rose to fame during her time on screen as Jackie Burkhart on the FOX sitcom That ’70s Show.

Following her multiple seasons of TV success, Kunis moved onto the big screen with prominent roles in films that included The Book of Eli with Denzel Washington and Black Swan with Natalie Portman.

Based on reports, she’s now in talks to take on the role of a rock-hard superhero known as The Thing.

The role would put Kunis into the MCU as part of the Fantastic Four, who will likely hit the big screen in the next several years with a film by 2025.

However, Kunis would make an interesting choice for the role, as many will consider it another deviation from the original material and previous film attempts.

Mila Kunis in talks to play Fantastic Four’s The Thing

According to TMZ, rumors of Kunis getting the surprising role in the MCU as The Thing first arrived on Twitter via @MyTimeToShineH, an account known for having insider entertainment info ahead of trade publications.

The tweet indicates that casting is “looking at Jewish actors, both male and female,” to take on the role of The Thing in Fantastic Four, and “Kunis is one of them.”

In Marvel’s Fantastic Four comics, four humans were exposed to cosmic rays during a scientific mission, resulting in them gaining superhuman abilities.

Benjamin Grimm became The Thing, an orange rock-like being with superhuman strength, stamina, durability, and even immortality.

Thing joined forces with the three other characters — Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch, to fight crime throughout the comic books.

Fantastic Four films have flopped ahead of MCU’s attempt

The Fantastic Four comics started in the early 1960s and have endured until the modern era of comic books. The superhero group arrived on the big screen in several attempts to cash in on the superhero team, with the first coming in 1994 starring Michael Bailey Smith as The Thing.

It wasn’t until 11 years later that 20th Century Fox attempted to create a successful movie version featuring the group. Their Fantastic Four film had an ensemble cast that included Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards, aka Mister Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Sue Storm, aka Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as Human Torch, and Michael Chiklis as The Thing.

A sequel called Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer came in 2007, with the original cast members reprising their roles as the superhero group.

In 2015 a reboot arrived starring Miles Teller as Mr. Fantastic, Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch, Kate Mara as Invisible Woman, and Jamie Bell as Ben Grimm.

The three most recent attempts all failed with critics and audiences. The 2005 version holds a 28 percent aggregate critics’ score at Rotten Tomatoes, while the 2007 movie has a 37 percent aggregate score.

The 2015 version bombed even harder, achieving just a nine percent score with 263 critics’ reviews.

Fans and critics react to Kunis’ potential casting in MCU

With the speculation that Kunis might take on the comic book character’s role in the MCU hitting the internet, plenty of individuals on Twitter weighed in with their thoughts about it.

“Nah. That aint gonna happen. F4 is one of the most important characters in Marvel. I am 100% certain that they won’t have a female thing. I’ll bet on it,” one Twitter commenter wrote.

One person said that “a large portion of Marvel fans are gonna become insufferable with the amount of hate directed” at Kunis, should she end up with the role.

Another individual suggested that actor Seth Rogen would be perfect for the role of The Thing.

One person also mentioned a female version of The Thing exists in Marvel and the Fantastic Four comic book series — Sharon Ventura, aka She-Thing.

It’s possible that Marvel is looking to cast Benjamin Grimm and Sharon Ventura for their MCU movies or merely trying to change things up as they move into the next phases of comic book-inspired films.

As of this writing, the Fantastic Four movie is expected to release in February 2025.