In what’s easily one of the more surprising casting moves to date by Marvel Studios, Julia Garner (Ozark) has joined the cast of The Fantastic Four as…The Silver Surfer.
The character has long been expected to be part of the film; however, the surprise comes in that according to Deadline, Garner will play a very different version of the character than what fans have been anticipating. The trade claims that Garner will be playing Shalla-Bal, a character who is more well-known as the former lover of Norinn Radd, the original Silver Surfer. Though Radd serves as the Surfer in nearly every alternate universe in the pages of Marvel Comics, Ball did join him as a silver-clad sentry of the spaceways in Jim Krueger’s Earth X limited series.
The casting of Garner as The Sentinel of the Spaceways could be another feather in the cap of the idea that Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four is set in an alternate universe. Choosing to have Radd’s fate befall Bal, could work to further separate the MCU project from previous versions and give Matt Shakman’s film a very different vibe from what’s expected in an MCU project.
The Fantastic Four is set to hit theaters on July 25, 2025.
Source: Deadline
