Next year, The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios will officially bring the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but a specific casting has divided fans. A new report may signal a change that will please the “anti-woke” mob.
Regarding Marvel’s First Family debuting in Kevin Feige’s MCU, anticipation has been brewing for a long time. Ever since Bob Iger’s House of Mouse acquired 21st Century Fox, fans have awaited the arrival of the Fantastic Four in the billion-dollar franchise.
The first glimpse of the squad came in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, with John Krasinski—an actor who had been fan-cast as Reed Richards for a while—playing the leader of the Fantastic Four.
This casting wasn’t meant to be, though, as Krasinski’s Reed Richards was quickly eliminated by a raging Wanda Maximoff, AKA Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).
Surprisingly, it wouldn’t be the Fantastic Four or even the X-Men that would transition from Fox’s universe into the MCU first, but Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool. Ryan Reynolds’ beloved character will make his official MCU feature film debut in this month’s Deadpool & Wolverine (2024), with Hugh Jackman co-starring as Logan/Wolverine.
For fans of the Fantastic Four, it won’t be long. As announced in Hall H at San Diego ComicCon 2019, the Fantastic Four will arrive on the big screen in the near future.
With Avengers: Endgame (2019) becoming the highest-grossing MCU movie ever and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) set to close out Phase Three, the franchise was at its height.
After the pandemic shutdown and fresh off the back of two hit movies, Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Feige delivered several announcements with gusto at 2022’s convention.
Since then, a lot has changed.
From culling the number of movies and TV shows released each year to rebranding peripheral stories as Marvel Spotlight to reportedly rebooting the MCU with Deadpool & Wolverine, Disney and Marvel are in full course correct mode following last year’s dismal box office.
The Fantastic Four (2025) has not been safe from change, either. Jon Watts was originally attached as director but dropped out in early 2022. WandaVision‘s Matt Shakman took up the role in August of the same year, and a year later, in March 2023, Josh Friedman was hired to rewrite Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer’s script.
Perhaps the most exciting announcement came on Valentine’s Day 2024 when Marvel Studios officially revealed who would play the Fantastic Four.
In the spirit of the season, Marvel dropped the casting reveal in a Valentine’s Day-themed post, confirming that Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach would be playing the roles of Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/Thing, respectively.
The quartet will be this decade’s First Family. Back in 2005, the Fantastic Four team featured Ioan Gruffudd (Mister Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (The Human Torch), and Michael Chiklis (Thing). In 2015, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell played the same respective characters.
Also joining the cast for the MCU’s The Fantastic Four will be Ralph Ineson as Galactus, with John Malkovich, Paul Walter Hauser, and Natasha Lyonne also appearing in undisclosed roles. Another named character comes in the form of Julia Garner’s (Ozark, Inventing Anna) Shalla Bal, AKA the Silver Surfer.
Shalla Bal first debuted in “Silver Surfer #1” back in 1968. The Marvel Comics character was the love interest of Norrin Radd, AKA the Silver Surfer. Radd, a Zenn-La native, went on to become the Herald of Galactus after the world devourer came knocking at Zenn-La’s door.
As Kevin Feige recently confirmed on The Official Marvel Podcast (via Variety), The Fantastic Four is a period piece. It will take place in an alternate universe outside of the current MCU story. This likely means audiences will get a fresh take on Silver Surfer, with IGN positing that it will be Shalla Bal and not Norrin Radd that becomes Galactus’ Herald.
“There was another piece of art we released with Johnny Storm flying in the air making a 4 symbol, and there was a cityscape in the corner of that image,” the Marvel Studios President said. “There were a lot of smart people who noticed that that cityscape didn’t look exactly like the New York that we know, or the New York that existed in the ‘60s in our world. Those are smart observations, I’ll say.”
That said, Shalla Bal does appear as the Silver Surfer in “Earth X #12” (2000), albeit not for very long. The choice of showcasing Shalla Bal as the Silver Surfer in the live-action MCU instead of Norrin Radd has proven divisive.
Upon the news of Garner’s casting as the Silver Surfer, the “anti-woke” brigade took to social media to condemn the casting, signposting it as another example of The Walt Disney Company’s need to be politically correct and exist under a constant banner of diversity and inclusion.
Related: Marvel Is Being Forced to Scrap Troubled MCU Movie as New Information Comes To Light
Now, those same fans may be thrilled to know that recent reports suggest that Emmy-winning Julia Garner may be a one-and-done deal.
“The Cosmic Circus’ Alex Perez [reports] that Garner will most likely be a ‘one and done’ and won’t reprise her role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe post-The Fantastic Four,” writes Comic Book Movie.
Similar to the 2005 Fox duology, it seems that Silver Surfer will only appear in one movie for the second time. The Silver Surfer appeared in 2007’s Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer, played by Doug Jones, with Laurence Fishburne voicing the Zenn-La native.
The Fantastic Four is set to be released exclusively in movie theaters on July 25, 2025.
Related: Marvel Ending Troubled Multiverse Saga, Updates Given
Prior to the likes of Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby landing in the MCU, the studio is projected to release three more movies, and at least one announced TV show.
Deadpool & Wolverine will obviously drop on July 26, 2024, with Agatha All Along debuting on Disney+ in September. Next year, Marvel Phase Five will culminate with Captain America: Brave New World (2025) and Thunderbolts* (2025).
What are your thoughts on Julia Garner’s Silver Surfer? Let us know in the comments down below!
