Wikipedia's first sentence called it “fictional character from the marvel universe”. Today it says “superhero appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “New Amsterdam; Ruins”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2005
Thing is a fictional character from the Marvel Universe , a founding member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four under the guise of the superstrong Thing. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 ( 1961 ). His trademark cry of "It's clobberin' time!" is one of the most recognizable catchphrases in all comics.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 17931440.
The opening as it stood in 2010 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Comics character The Thing ( Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm ) is a fictional character , a founding member of the superhero team known as the Fantastic Four in the Marvel Comics universe .He was created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961).His trademark orange rocky appearance, sense of humor, blue eyes, and his famous battle cry , "It's clobberin' time!" makes him one of comics' most recognizable and popular characters.The Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on those of Jimmy Durante .Michael Chiklis portrayed The Thing in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 370420817.
The opening as it stood in 2015 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Comics character The Thing ( Benjamin "Ben" Grimm ) is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics .He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four .His trademark orange rocky appearance, sense of humor, blue eyes, and famous battle cry, "It's clobberin' time!", make him a very recognizable comic book character. The Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on those of Jimmy Durante . Actor Michael Bailey Smith played Ben Grimm in The Fantastic Four film from 1994, while Michael Chiklis portrayed the Thing in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer .Jamie Bell is scheduled to portray the Thing in 2015's Fantastic Four .The Thing was named Empire magazine's tenth of "The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters" in 2008.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 669128410.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics Comics character The Thing ( Ben Grimm ) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics .The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four .The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby , and he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 ( cover-dated Nov. 1961).The character is known for his trademark rocky appearance, sense of humor, and famous battle cry, "It's clobberin' time!" The Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on those of Jimmy Durante .Michael Bailey Smith played Ben Grimm in his human form while Carl Ciarfalio played The Thing in The Fantastic Four film from 1994, Michael Chiklis portrayed the Thing in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer , while Jamie Bell acted the part in Fantastic Four (2015).In 2011, IGN ranked the Thing 18th in the "Top 100 Comic Book Heroes", and 23rd in their list of "The Top 50 Avengers" in 2012. The Thing was named Empire magazine's tenth of "The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters" in 2008.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 965274595.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Comic book superhero Comics character Benjamin Jacob " Ben " Grimm , also known as The Thing , is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four . The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby , and he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 ( cover-dated Nov. 1961). Known for his trademark rocky appearance, he has superhuman strength, a sense of humor, and the battle cry "It's clobberin' time!" Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on Jimmy Durante . Michael Bailey Smith played Ben Grimm in his human form, while Carl Ciarfalio played the Thing in The Fantastic Four film from 1994, Michael Chiklis portrayed the Thing in the 2005 film Fantastic Four and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178279055.
The opening as it stood in 2025 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Marvel Comics superhero This article is about the Marvel Comics character.Comics character The Thing ( Benjamin Jacob " Ben " Grimm ) is a fictional superhero character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four . The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby , and he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 ( cover-dated Nov. 1961). Known for his trademark rocky appearance, he has superhuman strength, a sense of humor, and the battle cry and catchphrase "It's clobberin' time!" Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on Jimmy Durante . A key feature throughout his character arc has him struggling to accept his newfound powers, which often culminates in his returning to his human form before going back to his mutated form.Eventually the Thing came to accept his mutated form and even found love with and married blind sculptor, Alicia Masters , and they adopted two alien children.The Thing notably appeared in other media, including live-action films , with Michael Bailey Smith and Carl Ciarfalio playing the character in his human and mutated forms respectively in the unreleased film The Fantastic Four .Michael Chiklis played the character in the 2005 Fantastic Four film and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer , and Jamie Bell in the 2015 reboot .Ebon Moss-Bachrach will portray the character in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1295301048. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “fictional character from the marvel universe”. Today it says “superhero appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics”. Sections present on October 6, 2023 no longer exist: “New Amsterdam; Ruins”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
fictional character from the marvel universe
Now
superhero appearing in american comic books published by marvel comics
Sections that no longer exist
Present on October 6, 2023, absent today, with no near-matching heading in the current article and the article shorter overall, so this is not a renamed heading or a topic absorbed into a fuller treatment. 2 sections of 400 characters or more gone since October 6 2023, with the article 9,821 characters shorter.
New Amsterdam
Ruins
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
