Last year, we got confirmation that The Fantastic Four: First Steps will introduce a female take on Marvel Comics' classic space-faring hero, the Silver Surfer - but not the version of the character fans are most familiar with.
Emmy Award-winner Julia Garner (Ozark, Inventing Anna) will play the movie's Surfer, but will actually take on the role of Shalla-Bal.
Daniel Richtman recently reported that there are big plans for the Silver Surfer going forward, with appearances in a number of projects and a solo movie on the way. Now, the scooper is claiming that the character will be a part of the Annihilators (whether it'll be a movie or series is not clear).
On the page, the Annihilators were a team of the most powerful individuals in the universe, including Quasar, Ronan the Accuser, Gladiator, Beta Ray Bill and the Surfer. With this in mind, the character's involvement wouldn't exactly be a surprise, but will it be Garner's Surfer or Norrin Radd?
Possible (mild) spoilers follow.
Rumor has it that Garner will only appear as the Silver Surfer in First Steps movie, with Radd set to be introduced in the 616 Universe down the line. Garner declined to confirm or deny the possibility of returning at some point ("we'll see") during a recent interview, but did sound excited about the prospect of a spin-off.
"A hundred percent, I would love to do that. The Silver Surfer is such a cool character, and I feel like it's so rare to be presented with any sort of mystery in this day and age. So any kind of energy like that on screen, I know I want to see that, so that would be awesome if that happened."
The Fantastic Four reboot also stars Vanessa Kirby (Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning) as Sue Storm, aka the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn (Stranger Things, A Quiet Place Day One) as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Punisher, The Bear) as Ben Grimm, aka the Thing.
Natasha Lyonne, Paul Walter Hauser and John Malkovich are also on board in undisclosed roles.
Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the movie will take place in an alternate universe, but we know that Marvel's First Family will appear in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, so we wouldn't be surprised if they find their way into the main MCU timeline by the end of this movie.
"Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn) and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they face their most daunting challenge yet.
Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal."
Matt Shakman directs The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.