David Krumholtz “embarrassed” over begging to play The Thing

Last Updated on February 26, 2024

Even as the Marvel Cinematic Universe is in a transition “phase”, there is a still a high demand from actors of all statures to want to join the highest-grossing movie franchise ever. And that includes David Krumholtz – yes, Bernard from The Santa Clause – who went all-in for a shot at playing The Thing in The Fantastic Four…an attempt that he is now “embarrassed” by.

While David Krumholtz has kept a steady career in movies and TV since the early ‘90s, playing The Thing in the MCU would have been a crowning achievement. He even met with director Matt Shakman, but this did not play out as he hoped. )Perhaps we can call this 1 Thing I Hate About You…) Getting into the room stemmed from Krumholtz posting on social media to land the gig. The tweet has since been deleted, with the actor saying, “I was embarrassed. My post said, ‘I just want to be in the conversation.’ And it was a picture of the Thing, and Matt saw it somehow. And I had a meeting with him and we discussed it. And I’ve never been so bold in a meeting before, just begging for the role, just straight up selling the s— out of it, the idea of how committed and passionate I was for it. But obviously that didn’t happen.”

David Krumholtz – like so many – grew up reading Marvel comic books, showing his loyalty to them over DC. Now that the MCU is so expansive, it’s like a dream come true for him even as a fan. “When Marvel started making films, it was mind-blowing. I remember thinking when I was a kid reading these comics that these would be amazing films, but they couldn’t do them. There wasn’t the technology to do them properly. And suddenly there was, and suddenly they were getting it all right. And they were true to the costumes and true to every little detail.” The role of The Thing has gone to The Bear’s Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

Still, David Krumholtz holds no ill will towards either Shakman or Moss-Bachrach, championing the casting decision. As for his future attempts to join the studio, he has recently shown interest in playing Mole Man although he admits, “I’ll probably end up playing like a superhero’s therapist. Let’s face it. There’s slim pickings for guys like me in that world, unfortunately.” Humble – and that’s exactly why he remains an onscreen favorite.

David Krumholtz may not be the superhero type, but his passion for the Marvel Cinematic Universe is quite clear. OK, Marvel fans, let’s assemble and get Krumholtz a decent gig in the MCU!