Marvel has found its Silver Surfer. Per Deadline, the studio has cast Julia Garner (Ozark) as the cosmic entity known as the Silver Surfer in The Fantastic Four.
Garner will make her MCU debut as Shalla-Bal, one of the different versions of the Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics. She’ll star alongside Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, and Joseph Quinn rounding out the cast as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch.
The Silver Surfer was a humanoid alien named Norrin Radd who made a bargain with the cosmic being Galactus, a destroyer of worlds, to spare his planet. He was given powers and a new body, becoming Galactus’ herald the Silver Surfer and searched the universe for new worlds for Galactus to consume. When he discovered Earth, he came into contact with the Fantastic Four and betrayed Galactus, helping the Marvel heroes defeat him.
Shalla-Bal was the empress of Silver Surfer’s planet and previous lover. When he became Silver Surfer, they were separated forever. In a different Marvel continuity, both she and Radd became Silver Surfers and heralds of Galactus. It seems it is this version that will be the MCU’s primary Silver Surfer, hinting that the antagonist will be Galactus himself.
Silver Surfer was previous brought to screen in Fox’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer where he was portrayed by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. Galactus was also in the film, but in a drastically different manner than his comic counterpart as Galactus was a giant space cloud rather than an omnipotent being.
Director Matt Shakman has been in pre-production on The Fantastic Four at Pinewood Studios in England. Production is expected to begin this summer.
Fantastic Four is now set for release on July 25, 2025.
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
