The Fantastic Four: First Steps is currently undergoing reshoots in Los Angeles, and Julia Garner has been spotted on set as Shalla-Bal, not the Silver Surfer.
With striking blonde hair and a white dress boasting a cosmic blue pattern, Shalla-Bal is seemingly no longer a Herald of Galactus (or has yet to become one). The actor was shown facing the shoreline before turning around and spreading her arms wide.
It's impossible to say what's happening; this could be a flashback revealing when she became the Silver Surfer or perhaps a scene from the end of the film where she's freed of that burden. It may even be something setting up the events of Avengers: Doomsday, though Garner isn't currently expected to appear in that movie.
Thunderbolts* established that the Fantastic Four eventually arrive on Earth-616, and the hope among fans is that Norrin Rad (the male Silver Surfer) will be introduced in the MCU post-Avengers: Secret Wars.
With it looking increasingly likely that the team's reality will be destroyed in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, both Galactus and Shalla-Bal are potentially meant to be one-and-done characters. However, rumours persist that the Devourer of Worlds will be a Multiversal threat.
During a recent interview, Garner was asked whether she went surfing to help prepare her for playing this character.
"No, I am actually afraid of the ocean," she said with a laugh. "So no, but I can act. I have some friends that know how to surf, and they showed me some moves before I went out to London to just kind of get the body position of it all. And then I realized shortly after I was in London that I used some surf moves, but then I also used a lot of what I saw in the comic books."
"There were different poses that, the way that they would draw them, they weren't surf poses — they almost looked like something you would see in sculptures," Garner added. "So I incorporated surfing with the poses of a sculpture, like moving elegantly, like a dance. So it was kind of a mixture of things, but a lot of it was from the comics that inspired me."
You can see the full gallery of The Fantastic Four: First Steps set photos by following the link to Mail Online in the X post below.
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.
Paul Walter Hauser, John Malkovich, and Natasha Lyonne have been cast in mystery roles. Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom is rumoured to appear, though that's surely a given with Avengers: Doomsday on the way.
Director Matt Shakman worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on The Fantastic Four: First Steps' screenplay, with Eric Pearson (Black Widow) later coming on board for a final polish.
The movie is set to be released in theaters on July 25, 2025.