Julia Garner Joins Marvel’s Fantastic Four as Shalla-Bal Version of Silver Surfer

Julia Garner has been tapped to join the cast of Marvel’s The Fantastic Four, reportedly set to portray the Silver Surfer. According to Deadline, the Emmy-winning actor from Ozark will embody a rendition of the character known as Shalla-Bal, a significant figure from the cosmic realm of Marvel comics.

In the original stories, Shalla-Bal is depicted as the beloved of Norrin Radd, who sacrifices himself to serve Galactus in exchange for sparing their world, Zenn-La. This leads Radd to become the Silver Surfer, wielding the Power Cosmic. While there have been variations in which Shalla-Bal gains some of the Surfer’s abilities, she has never fully taken on his title or appearance, except in alternate reality narratives like Earth-X.

However, in The Fantastic Four, it appears that Shalla-Bal will be the one donning the iconic silver surfboard, with Julia Garner bringing her to life through motion capture. Marvel has yet to officially confirm this casting.

Garner joins an impressive ensemble cast, including Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch. The film will be directed by Matt Shakman, known for his work on WandaVision, and scripted by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer. Production is slated to commence this summer, aiming for a release date of July 25th, 2025.

This marks the return of the Silver Surfer to the big screen since his appearance in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, where Doug Jones provided the physical performance, while Laurence Fishburne lent his voice to the character.