Despite us knowing for a while that Silver Surfer inMarvel’supcomingFantastic Four: First Stepsmovie would be a woman (revealed when the announced cast included Julia Garner in the role), yesterday’s trailer was the first time we got a look at her. And some fans, possibly unaware of this announcement, have not been happy.
There have been complaints that a male role has been genderflipped to a woman, but that’s not entirely accurate. Or, more precisely, it’s not accurate at all. Garner is playing Shalla-Bal, a female character introduced in 1968 as the girlfriend of Norrin Radd, who is the original Silver Surfer. However, both characters have held the moniker (and iconic silver skin) since then, and there might be a specific reason Shalla-Bal is the Silver Surfer in this universe.
Silver Surfer Has Been A Woman For A Long Time
In 1999’s Universe X, Marvel explores a new multiverse, where one of the definining features is that Shalla-Bal is the Silver Surfer. It is highly speculated that Fantastic Four takes place in a different universe to the MCU we know, which would explain how they could be famous in the ’60s yet no one in the present knows who they are.
Marvel has already teased the multiverse with the post-credits of The Marvels introducing Beast fromthe FoX-Men universe(returning for Avengers: Doomsday) andCaptain America: Brave New Worldcryptically discussing other worlds.
Having Shalla-Bal be Silver Surfer is a hat tip to fans in the know that this is an alternate universe, even if some are simply too annoyed at information that was revealed months ago to notice. Shalla-Bal also has a key hisory with Doom, who will be a major player going forward in theMCU, and will therefore likely feature in Fantastic Four in some capacity, even if Galactus is the central villain. Shalla-Bal was once trapped in the body of a peasant girl (Helena) and ended up marrying and being freed by Doom, so their relationship could build if she remains beyond this movie.
As someone who grew up when the original Fantastic Four movies were out, it’s a little odd to see Garner’s version compared unfavourably to Doug Jones' version (voiced by Laurence Fishburne) when it was so panned at the time. Maybe these things just go in cycles. Perhaps in 20 years when the MCU is dead, buried, and rebooted, there will be fans complaining that Silver Surfer is a guy in this one and won’t be anywhere near as good at Julia Garner’s in 2025.
