We recently learned about the star-studded cast for Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four, which might be the most important movie for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in quite a while. We were left wondering, however, about the long-in-the-works movie’s antagonists. Well, we now can confirm the Silver Surfer is part of that package.
Deadline shared this news on April 3, confirming that Ozark’s Julia Garner is set to play the famous (and pivotal) Marvel character, though it’ll be the Shalla-Bal version instead of fan-favorite Norrin Radd. Unsurprisingly, the more casual Marvel fans might be scratching their heads right now, but we have quick answers for you here.
Comic book readers know Shalla-Bal as the immortal Empress of Zenn-La and eventual lover of Norrin Radd, the classical Silver Surfer, who becomes the Herald of Galactus (something introduced in the second of the Fox movies) in exchange for his (and Shalla-Bal’s) planet being spared. That’s the gist of it, but of course her and Radd’s history is far more complicated. Like most Marvel characters, she’s also gone through several iterations, and one highlight was her temporarily gaining the Silver Surfer powers in the separate continuity of the Earth X miniseries.
