It’s official: Marvel’s The Fantastic Four has cast an integral part of the story, as an actor has been revealed to have been cast as the iconic Silver Surfer.
Revealed by Deadline yesterday, Marvel fans are absolutely losing their minds at the casting.
Whilst everyone was fairly unanimous on the casting for the core four of the film being incredible – this one has been a bit more controversial.
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Julia Garner has been cast in the role, following on from her critically acclaimed run in Ozark, which saw her win three Emmy’s for lead actress in four years.
Fans were split – with some excited for such a brilliant actor to be starring in the role, whilst others were surprised the studio have gone with a woman for what is traditionally a male character.
Whilst the Silver Surfer is originally Norrin Radd, a man, Deadline are reporting that Garner will playing a version of the character Sharra-Bal, the lover of Norrin Radd.
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The role of Norrin was played previously by Doug Jones in the 2005 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
Whilst some fans reacted in dismay at the casting – the majority are beyond excited for Garner to take on the role.
Shah Shahid posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) where he said:
“I LOVED Julia Garner in Inventing Anna. Casting her as Silver Surfer in the MCU Fantastic Four is yet another amazing choice and furthers the pattern of Marvel Studios hiring hugely talented up and comers with amazing talent.
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“This is honestly inspired!”
Garner joins an incredibly talented existing cast for the film, with Pedro Pascal, Vannesa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach forming the titular group.
One poster on X replied to a graphic of the full announced cast saying: “Looks like this movie is going to be lit, the casting looks intriguing”.
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Wandavision showrunner Matt Shakman is set to direct the film.
Whilst there has been obvious misogynistic reaction to a traditionally male character receiving female casting, some have questioned the decision to not go with the original version of the character.
Commenting under the news on r/marvelstudios – one poster said: “Decades of incredible Norrin Radd lore set to the side in favor of a one-issue character (as the Surfer, specifically). Interesting decision-making.
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“On the bright side, Julia Garner is an amazing actress.. but idk.”
Another commented: “Norrin Radd's version is far more well known and regarded, for a franchise that needs some course correction you'd think they'd avoid making high risk moves like this.
“At least they played it safe with the casting as Garners very talented.”
Whilst it may not be the safe move – the fact Marvel can still get actors as talented as Garner shows the potential of their Fantastic Four.
Topics: Film and TV, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Celebrity, News, Twitter, Reddit
Michael Slavin