Surprising news has emerged from the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) latest project, The Fantastic Four. A few weeks after announcing the main cast through the posting of first images on their social media accounts, it seems that The Fantastic Four has found the cast for the Silver Surfer character, Julia Garner.
The Emmy-winning actress will play one of the main characters in the movie.
Aside from Julia Garner, other cast members who have been confirmed are Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards aka Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm aka The Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch, and Ebos Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm or The Thing.
Julia Garner to play Silver Surfer variant in Fantastic Four MCU
Before accusing Marvel Studios of gender-switching and the like, it’s important to remember that Julia Garner will not be playing the classic Silver Surfer character who first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 in 1966.
Instead, the actress, who was born on February 1, 1994, will play Shalla-Bal, a variant character of the Silver Surfer.
The character of Shalla-Bal first debuted in the Silver Surfer #1 comic in August 1968. In the story by Stan Lee and John Buscema, Shalla-Bal is the leader of a beautiful planet called Zenn-La. She is also the lover of the main character, Norin Radd or who we also know as the Silver Surfer.
Many MCU fans are of the opinion that The Fantastic Four will most likely be set in a parallel universe. However, at the same time, it still ties into the main storyline of the MCU.
This suggests that the character of Shalla-Bal was inspired by the Earth-X #10 comic which is one of Marvel’s most popular alternate universes.
In the comics by Jim Krueger, Alex Ross, and Matt Hollingsworth, Shalla-Bal transforms into the Silver Surfer and becomes Galactus’ servant alongside Norrin Radd. Unfortunately, after gaining cosmic powers, Shalla-Bal was soon killed by the new Galactus, Franklin Richards.
If the schedule doesn’t change, production on The Fantastic Four is scheduled to begin in the summer of this year.
Matt Shakman, who worked with Marvel Studios on WandaVision (2021), will direct. Meanwhile, the movie script will be written by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, Eric Pearson, and Ian Springer.
