Before the 1990s, Ben Grimm, more commonly known as The Thing from Fantastic Four, was often seen with a cigar. During the 2000s, however, a major change in Marvel Comics forced The Thing and several other prominent superheroes to give up the habit, which was even referenced in the 2005 adaption of Fantastic Four.
During the 38 minute mark of Fantastic Four, Reed Richards is seen analyzing the changes made to his teammates' bodies following their exposure to cosmic rays at the beginning of the film. Richard says that Ben Grimm's internal organs are rock solid, causing The Thing to reply, "How bad is it? You know I used to smoke."
This reference happened four years after Marvel Comics' Editor in Chief Joe Quesada instituted a smoking ban for its main characters. As someone who lost his grandfather to lung cancer, Quesada believed that depicting heroes smoking encouraged the habit, particularly among children. His stance against smoking was so strong he even discussed the topic following his departure from Marvel in 2011."There’s only one [time] I’ve ever said 'It’s my way or the highway' and that [was] cigarette smoking," Quesada said in a 2011 statement obtained by MTV. "I just didn’t want any of it in the books."
Quesada's main target was Wolverine, one of Marvel's flagship characters at the time thanks to the success of the X-Men film series. In a 2001 interview, Quesada stated that Wolverine was "a role model for some kids and he shouldn't be smoking," before discussing how his healing factor would prevent a nicotine addiction anyway. However, while the character was banned from smoking in the comics, he was still seen smoking in the X-Men films, which eventually became a source of controversy from anti-smoking advocacy groups in 2009.
While many fans were originally displeased by Quesada's changes, it ended up paving the way for better practices in superhero films as well. Wolverine stopped smoking in all PG-13 X-Men films after First Class, while Disney instituted a smoking ban on all PG-13 films in 2015. Quesada's ban occurred a year before the CDC's studies of smoking in movies, which eventually encouraged its ban from most films rated PG-13 and under. His ban also had a point, according to those aforementioned CDC studies: "Exposure to onscreen smoking in movies causes young people to start smoking."
Although this Fantastic Four scene easily flies under the radar, it reflects a major change in Marvel Comics' policies at the time. Despite its initial unpopularity, this change impacted nearly the entirety of comic book media while highlighting shifting cultural attitudes toward smoking.
Source: IMDb