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Ebon Moss-Bachrach is best known for playing Richie the restaurant manager in Hulu's hit series The Bear, and soon he'll be best known for playing the craggy hero known as the Thing in Marvel Studios' Fantastic Four. Moss-Bachrach, an admitted comic fan going back to childhood, is entering rarified air by becoming one of comics' most iconic heroes, but as the actor revealed at the L.A. premiere of the Bear season 3 this past Tuesday, his childhood comic proclivities weren't for Marvel or even superhero comics - but were a foundational part of his life.

"I was a comic book fan, but the comic books I read when I was a kid were more like the cheaper kind of ones I could get from the five-cent bin," Moss-Bachrach says. The actor grew up in Massachusetts, reading comics and prose novels from the likes of Piers Anthony and Isaac Asimov.

"I liked Archie, some Richie Rich. I really liked Groo," says the actor. "I liked Elfquest a lot. I think some of my earliest sexual visions were Elfquest.”

Elfquest is a popular fantasy series by the wife-and-husband duo of Wendy and Richard Pini, focusing on elves (who else) trying to survive and thrive. The series, which debuted in 1978 and continues to this day, has been optioned for movie and TV adaptions on several occasions, including a '80s Nelvana animated movie, a '90s live-action movie and cartoon, and a Warner Bros. movie in the '00s. The most recent attempt has been an adult-oriented cartoon series by Fox.

Fantastic Four will be Moss-Bachrach's third role in a comics adaptation, following appearances in the American Splendor movie, Netflix's The Punisher, so who knows - maybe his fandom of Elfquest will help that movie (or TV series) to finally be made.

Get ready for what's next with our guide to upcoming comics, how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to Free Comic Book Day 2025.