The MCU’s ‘Fantastic Four’ Has Found Its Silver Surfer
The highly anticipated MCU movie has its Silver Surfer—and the choice is out of left field.
A few months back, Marvel revealed the super team—Pedro Pascal is Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby is Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach is Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing. The cast is not what people expected. I don’t recall any of these actors being on the popular fan cast lists that have been circulating since the project was announced in 2019. All four are fantastic (ha.. ha… ha ha ha…. so funny), though.
Deadline confirmed that Marvel added Golden Globe-winning actress Julia Garner to the cast. You may recognize Garner from The Americans and Netflix’s award-winning series Ozark. She’s been described as a chameleon who throws herself into her work, which shows on screen. Garner is a great addition to this stacked cast.
The article also confirmed she’ll be playing the the Shalla-Bal version of Silver Surfer.
The Silver Surfer & Shalla-Bal
The casting news gives the first hint at the movie’s story. Marvel has chosen to go with the Shalla-Bal version of the iconic character, who initially appeared in the comics in 1968 and has made appearances in several continuities. In all cases, she’s an eons-old empress of a utopian planet called Zenn-La. Her story is intertwined with Norrin Radd (aka Silver Surfer) and Galactus.
In her first storyline, Shalla-Bal and Radd are romantically linked. The pair are pulled apart when Radd leaves to protect her home from the planet-eating villain. When he returns, they marry, and at one point, she is given some of the Power Cosmic behind Norrin’s abilities.
In Marvel’s Earth-9997, Franklin Richards becomes a new version of Galactus. He turns her into a Silver Surfer to serve alongside Norrin Radd as his herald. The pair are tasked with finding tasty planets for the Devourer of Worlds to snack on.
Shalla-Bal is more than a temporary Silver Surfer, though. Her adventures include dealings with the Cotati, Skrulls, Kree, and Celestials. The empress will do everything to protect Zenn-La and see it prosper. She claimed the mantle of Keeper of Great Truth and tried to convert other planets to her culture’s ways. She even has a run-in with everyone’s favorite Marvel Studios conspiracy theory, Mephisto.
Possibilities in the MCU
This could go a few ways, but I’m expecting the writers to take parts of Shalla-Bal’s rich history and combine them with Radd’s story. A mix allows for something less predictable with roots in the comics. This wouldn’t be the first time. Dar-Ben, The Marvels villain, was inspired by the Kree general and warrior Lauri-Ell from the comics. Moon Knight bad guy Arthur Harrow was also inspired by multiple comic characters.
We’ll have to wait for more hints to drop to get a more complete picture. The Fantastic Four starts filming in August and currently has a release date of July 25, 2025.
It’s always Mephisto!
