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 not a gender-switched take on Norrin Radd. Garner will actually take on the role of Shalla-Bal.
In the original Marvel Comics continuity, Shalla-Bal was the Empress of the planet Zenn-La, and was the first love of Norrin Radd. When Galactus came to devour their planet, Radd volunteered to become his herald in exchange for sparing Zenn-La. Later, when Franklin Richards took over as the new Galactus, he imbued Shalla with the same cosmic powers and allowed her to serve as a twin herald alongside Radd.
We got a first glimpse of Garner's take on the Surfer in the full trailer for First Steps, and we n0w have a pretty cool new look at the character via some Marvel Legends promo art.
Garner recently shared some new details on this new version of the character during an in-depth interview with EW.
The actress revealed that she was aware of the character, but had no idea the Surfer was who Matt Shakman wanted her to play when she met him about potentially boarding the project.
"We met up at some restaurant in Burbank or something, I don't even remember, but I knew it was for the Fantastic Four. And then I was confused because I was like, 'Wait, isn't the Silver Surfer a man?' I was just like, 'Okay, well, I'll play anything.' [Laughs] I was a very big fan of Matt's, so there was already, in my mind, like, 'I should probably meet with Matt Shakman because he's a very smart director and I love his work.' And then he was explaining to me that it's actually Shalla-Bal and that whole thing."
Possible (mild) spoilers follow.
As for whether we'll learn about Shalla's origin in this movie, Garner was careful not to reveal too much, but it does sound like she might just end up having second thoughts about her loyalty to the Eater of Worlds.
"I have to be so cryptic about everything, otherwise I'm going to have Marvel come after me. But it was described as there's this mystery about her, and there's this sense of this ambiguous energy going on of whether she's good or not. She is the herald of Galactus, so she works for Galactus, but you're not sure where she stands. Does she stand with her boss, or is she just doing what she's told? She has this mysterious energy about her, and slowly that mystery will get solved with the audience throughout watching it."
"All I can say is that she works for Galactus and that she's mysterious, and the character will unfold more towards the end of the movie. That's all I can say. I know it's a very Marvel tease, but also it's like a real tease. I haven't seen the movie myself!"
Rumor has it that Garner will only appear as the Silver Surfer in this movie, with Norrin 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"), but does 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.