There have been rumblings online for a while now that Marvel Studios is planning to give Galactus a female Herald in Fantastic Four, with some going so far as to suggest the plan is for Silver Surfer to be gender-swapped.
That wouldn't be the worst thing to happen (there's nothing about the character's stoic personality which is inherently "male"), and the idea just got a little more intriguing. According to scooper Daniel Richtman - who broke the Pedro Pascal/Mister Fantastic casting news - Anya Taylor-Joy is being considered for a villainous role in the reboot.
We don't have any additional details beyond that, but Taylor-Joy as Silver Surfer would be undeniably fun to see.
However, we think there might have been some crossed wires in previous reports. Silver Surfer isn't Galactus' only Herald and he certainly wasn't the first; with that in mind, Frankie Raye seems like a far more likely candidate, and we'd bet on that being the role Marvel Studios wants The New Mutants star for.
In the comics, Frankie gained her own Human Torch-like powers courtesy of scientist Phineas T. Horton. She later fell for Johnny Storm but, in a bid to save Earth, volunteered to become Galactus' new Herald. Imbued with the Power Cosmic, Frankie became the all-powerful Nova and was tasked with finding new worlds for her master to consume.
That's speculation on our part, of course, and all we know for sure right now is that Taylor-Joy is being eyed for a female villain.
While she made her Marvel debut with The New Mutants, that movie is a minor one in the grand scheme of Taylor-Joy's career. Her breakout role came in 2015's The Witch, with critically acclaimed turns in Split, Emma, Last Night in Soho, The Menu, The Queen's Gambit, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie following. Next year, she'll play the title character in Mad Max spin-off Furiosa.
If Pascal signs up to star in Fantastic Four, then a full casting announcement is expected to follow. Vanessa Kirby remains the frontrunner to play Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), who is said to be the movie's lead, with Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach playing the Human Torch and The Thing, respectively.
Javier Bardem, meanwhile, is being eyed to play Galactus, though Antonio Banderas also remains in the mix to suit up as the Eater of Worlds.
Director Matt Shakman has worked with both Avatar: The Way of Water co-writer Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cam Squires on the latest draft of Fantastic Four's screenplay. The movie is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on May 2, 2025.