Why the MCU Must Racebend the Fantastic Four’s Ben Grimm

They’re ruining my childhood.

How about we make Black Panther white? How would you like that?

Tired of Hollywood trying to be woke.

Comments like these overwhelm social media spaces at the mere mention of racebending. Racebending is giving a new racial identity to a well-known fictional character. And it caused some ruckus this year with Warner Brothers’ announcement of JJ Abrams’ Black Superman movie and with recent castings of Latinas as both Supergirl and Batgirl in upcoming films. The outrage will continue to grow as the Michael B Jordan’s Val-Zod Superman project heads to production on HBO Max. But for those refusing to budge on issue of racebending, they must admit some of their favorite superheroes would be people of color if created today. One such character is Ben Grimm — better known as the Thing.

Even the most hardened Fantastic Four fans must agree that Ben Grimm would likely be a person of color today. Ben grew up poor in a ghetto on Manhattan’s Lower Eastside with his older brother Daniel. Ben and Daniel were both involved in acts of violence as members of the Yancy Street Gang. According to FBI data, most New York City street gangs are comprised of Blacks and Hispanics. Also, Ben and Daniel would likely be in the NYPDs gang database. According to the recent…