What is The Thing? In this episode, we dissect the biology, history, and deep paranoia at the heart of John Carpenter’s 1982 classic—and ask whether The Thing could infect more than just humans.
Hi Joe, Georgia, Nick, Todd, and Bill! This is cool. I watched The Thing on Peacock a few days ago. Great film. I enjoyed it :)
I should check out the comic and original story. I wish they kept the scene where Blair had nightmares. That would have made it more intense. But it was good as is.
I did not know that the story had cows and that they tested milk. Yeah, I would think that all the cows were infected. Imagine the thing spreading to milk, ice cream, steak, and cheese that way. Yikes! Even worse than mad cow disease. Just like The Last of Us then.
That is cool that your son saw it, Joe and Georgia. Sounds like he noticed a lot of details too :)
Makes sense that The Thing is like a virus that spreads via air and contact within moments or minutes. It is scary how much it spreads. Would a HAZMAT suit be adequate to protect oneself from transmission?
Yeah, I am not sure if you could be cognizant of it. Seems like it spreads silently. And you probably would not notice until it is way too late.
Lol why do horror movies always have characters who make stupid decisions? Like walking by oneself when the Thing is around.
Yeah, there is no perfect comparison to The Thing. The shapeshifting ability reminds me of MCU Skrulls (and unfortunately, the Secret Invasion show) and Human Target.
Lol the mention of cats remind me of the flerken (cat alien) in Captain Marvel and The Marvels. When the Thing showed itself, it reminds me of the flerken showing their abilities and tentacles.
Yes! I like the story beat of where they could not trust one another. That made it mysterious. Good point about how the books were inspired by, and are social commentary about the Red Scare and paranoia from it.
I would love to see an adaptation of The Thing vs. Marvel or DC. Imagine if The Thing (though probably only possible if someone weakened Superman with Kryptonite) took over Superman and the paranoia among the Justice League. And Batman has to find the cure - all while fighting Wonder Woman, Supes, and Flash lol A kryptonite Thing! Eep lol On the Marvel side, I guess Marvel Zombies would be closest to this but still... I would love to see a comic of The Thing vs. Marvel superheroes and villains. Like if Thanos was took over Thanos or Punisher or Spider-Man lol. I am getting too many ideas.
Yeah I had wondered about Blair. Was he infected first? Or was he just paranoid? Or both. Could be any of these as you said.
Lol Georgia, it would be interesting if they watched The Thing while in Antarctica. I would be paranoid if I did that.
I hadn't heard of The Stuff. It sounds cool.
The discussion is reminding me of the 2011 film Contagion. Have you seen it?
Great point how it could spread via waste. Imagine being infected by Poop Thing. Crap lol
Yeah, Thing Predator would be scary. Thing Jedi LOL. Thing Sith! Thing Palpatine lol. Thing Chewbacca lol This needs to be a Star Wars story.
Yep The Thing IRL would lead to total chaos. And thanks to misinformation and disinfo, people wouldn't believe it, use some harmful treatments (inject bleach), refuse to quarantine or isolate, etc.
I too wondered who the Thing is. Part of me thought that perhaps it is gone...But it could be either one of them. Childs went off by himself. But Mac was by himself too once when others left him.
They would use a carrier penguin to spread word of The Thing =P
Todd's new story sounds AWESOME! I will check out his website! Bill's story sounds RAD too!
Who was The Thing at the end of Carpenter’s 1982 film?
Was it MacReady? Childs? Neither? Both?
IMO, both. They both probably had strong immune systems that resisted The Thing, but will probably be infected. Both had periods where they were suspiciously alone. Childs went off by himself for no reason. MacReady was at his room and was alone. If I recall correctly, his blood was okay. But, maybe it was dormant then. I think they both were The Thing.
--
If you could infect any alien species or fictional universe with The Thing—who would it be, and why?
I would not infect any, even a fictional universe would go too far.
I suppose that zombie ideas would be the closest that DC and Marvel have come to deal with a "Thing-like" organism. It'd be scary if The Thing infected Superman or Martian Manhunter. If it infected The Hulk, that'd be bad too. lol. Even street-level characters would be scary with The Thing infecting them. The Punisher would be even more chaotic with The Thing.
--
What would you do if you were stranded at Outpost 31 and suspected someone was The Thing?
Would you isolate yourself? Run tests? Burn the whole place down?
Get a HAZMAT suit, isolate myself as best as possible, and work tirelessly to get in contact with the outside world. Somehow. I'd run tests on myself too and hide (and last as long as I could on my existing food supply).
--
If The Thing infected a real-world organism—animal, fungus, microbe—which would be the worst-case scenario for Earth?
Go wild: think ants, octopuses, mycelial networks… or even humans with influencer accounts.
LOL the influencer idea.
Sadly though, I think we've already gotten a glimpse of what it would be like if such a "Thing" organism really existed. We saw this during the latest pandemic, and we saw this during the 1918 Flu. With the former, we saw people who refused to wear masks, aversion to quarantines, anti-vax disinformation, horrible treatment ideas (ivermectin, bleach injections, etc.), xenophobia, and influencers spreading disinformation via social media. With the latter, the Wilson administration ignored the 1918 flu, there were mass gatherings and events (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-28/flu-epidemic-hits-philadelphia), and a world war that helped the flu spread.
If (God forbid!) there was a real-world "The Thing" organism, I would be very pessimistic. There would be so much disinformation, resistance to social distancing, refusal to quarantine, anti-vax attitudes (if somehow, a group of scientists created a vaccine to the organism), mass gatherings (due to opposition to any public health measures to prevent mass gatherings) (conventions, parades, etc.) that allow it to spread, and influencers who would make things worse by spreading the disinformation and probably infecting fans that they meet in person (yeah, many are online, but there are conventions). If it spread through animals, there is a chance for it to be caught earlier. There are food inspections and, SO FAR, bird flu hasn't been nearly as bad as COVID was. But, if it were like The Thing, it could be like The Last of Us. Imagine if it spread through beef, pork, chicken, or fish. Or maybe that could lead to mutated animals...Goodness me, would it be like X-Men x Animal Farm? Scary.
Yeah, I'm not optimistic at all about any "The Thing" situation in real life.
Hi Joe, Georgia, Nick, Todd, and Bill! This is cool. I watched The Thing on Peacock a few days ago. Great film. I enjoyed it :)
I should check out the comic and original story. I wish they kept the scene where Blair had nightmares. That would have made it more intense. But it was good as is.
I did not know that the story had cows and that they tested milk. Yeah, I would think that all the cows were infected. Imagine the thing spreading to milk, ice cream, steak, and cheese that way. Yikes! Even worse than mad cow disease. Just like The Last of Us then.
That is cool that your son saw it, Joe and Georgia. Sounds like he noticed a lot of details too :)
Makes sense that The Thing is like a virus that spreads via air and contact within moments or minutes. It is scary how much it spreads. Would a HAZMAT suit be adequate to protect oneself from transmission?
Yeah, I am not sure if you could be cognizant of it. Seems like it spreads silently. And you probably would not notice until it is way too late.
Lol why do horror movies always have characters who make stupid decisions? Like walking by oneself when the Thing is around.
Yeah, there is no perfect comparison to The Thing. The shapeshifting ability reminds me of MCU Skrulls (and unfortunately, the Secret Invasion show) and Human Target.
Lol the mention of cats remind me of the flerken (cat alien) in Captain Marvel and The Marvels. When the Thing showed itself, it reminds me of the flerken showing their abilities and tentacles.
Yes! I like the story beat of where they could not trust one another. That made it mysterious. Good point about how the books were inspired by, and are social commentary about the Red Scare and paranoia from it.
I would love to see an adaptation of The Thing vs. Marvel or DC. Imagine if The Thing (though probably only possible if someone weakened Superman with Kryptonite) took over Superman and the paranoia among the Justice League. And Batman has to find the cure - all while fighting Wonder Woman, Supes, and Flash lol A kryptonite Thing! Eep lol On the Marvel side, I guess Marvel Zombies would be closest to this but still... I would love to see a comic of The Thing vs. Marvel superheroes and villains. Like if Thanos was took over Thanos or Punisher or Spider-Man lol. I am getting too many ideas.
Yeah I had wondered about Blair. Was he infected first? Or was he just paranoid? Or both. Could be any of these as you said.
Lol Georgia, it would be interesting if they watched The Thing while in Antarctica. I would be paranoid if I did that.
I hadn't heard of The Stuff. It sounds cool.
The discussion is reminding me of the 2011 film Contagion. Have you seen it?
Great point how it could spread via waste. Imagine being infected by Poop Thing. Crap lol
Yeah, Thing Predator would be scary. Thing Jedi LOL. Thing Sith! Thing Palpatine lol. Thing Chewbacca lol This needs to be a Star Wars story.
Yep The Thing IRL would lead to total chaos. And thanks to misinformation and disinfo, people wouldn't believe it, use some harmful treatments (inject bleach), refuse to quarantine or isolate, etc.
I too wondered who the Thing is. Part of me thought that perhaps it is gone...But it could be either one of them. Childs went off by himself. But Mac was by himself too once when others left him.
They would use a carrier penguin to spread word of The Thing =P
Todd's new story sounds AWESOME! I will check out his website! Bill's story sounds RAD too!
Awesome discussion! Cool episode! Take care 😃
Who was The Thing at the end of Carpenter’s 1982 film?
Was it MacReady? Childs? Neither? Both?
IMO, both. They both probably had strong immune systems that resisted The Thing, but will probably be infected. Both had periods where they were suspiciously alone. Childs went off by himself for no reason. MacReady was at his room and was alone. If I recall correctly, his blood was okay. But, maybe it was dormant then. I think they both were The Thing.
--
If you could infect any alien species or fictional universe with The Thing—who would it be, and why?
I would not infect any, even a fictional universe would go too far.
I suppose that zombie ideas would be the closest that DC and Marvel have come to deal with a "Thing-like" organism. It'd be scary if The Thing infected Superman or Martian Manhunter. If it infected The Hulk, that'd be bad too. lol. Even street-level characters would be scary with The Thing infecting them. The Punisher would be even more chaotic with The Thing.
--
What would you do if you were stranded at Outpost 31 and suspected someone was The Thing?
Would you isolate yourself? Run tests? Burn the whole place down?
Get a HAZMAT suit, isolate myself as best as possible, and work tirelessly to get in contact with the outside world. Somehow. I'd run tests on myself too and hide (and last as long as I could on my existing food supply).
--
If The Thing infected a real-world organism—animal, fungus, microbe—which would be the worst-case scenario for Earth?
Go wild: think ants, octopuses, mycelial networks… or even humans with influencer accounts.
LOL the influencer idea.
Sadly though, I think we've already gotten a glimpse of what it would be like if such a "Thing" organism really existed. We saw this during the latest pandemic, and we saw this during the 1918 Flu. With the former, we saw people who refused to wear masks, aversion to quarantines, anti-vax disinformation, horrible treatment ideas (ivermectin, bleach injections, etc.), xenophobia, and influencers spreading disinformation via social media. With the latter, the Wilson administration ignored the 1918 flu, there were mass gatherings and events (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/september-28/flu-epidemic-hits-philadelphia), and a world war that helped the flu spread.
If (God forbid!) there was a real-world "The Thing" organism, I would be very pessimistic. There would be so much disinformation, resistance to social distancing, refusal to quarantine, anti-vax attitudes (if somehow, a group of scientists created a vaccine to the organism), mass gatherings (due to opposition to any public health measures to prevent mass gatherings) (conventions, parades, etc.) that allow it to spread, and influencers who would make things worse by spreading the disinformation and probably infecting fans that they meet in person (yeah, many are online, but there are conventions). If it spread through animals, there is a chance for it to be caught earlier. There are food inspections and, SO FAR, bird flu hasn't been nearly as bad as COVID was. But, if it were like The Thing, it could be like The Last of Us. Imagine if it spread through beef, pork, chicken, or fish. Or maybe that could lead to mutated animals...Goodness me, would it be like X-Men x Animal Farm? Scary.
Yeah, I'm not optimistic at all about any "The Thing" situation in real life.