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

Julia Garner is boarding Marvel’s The Fantastic Four, reportedly signing on to play the Silver Surfer.

According to Deadline, the Emmy-winning Ozark actor will portray a Shalla-Bal version of the classic cosmic comic character. In the original Marvel stories, Shalla-Bal is the lover of Norrin Radd. When the planet-consuming Galactus threatens to devour their home of Zenn-La, Radd offers his servitude as Galactus’ herald, becoming the Silver Surfer in exchange for saving his world  — and his lover.

While there are stories in which Silver Surfer shares his Power Cosmic with Shalla-Bal, she never actually carries the Silver Surfer title or appearance. At least not in the main Marvel timeline; fans will recall the alternate reality series Earth-X, where both Radd and Shalla-Bal share the name, look, and powers of Silver Surfer.

Regardless, it seems Shalla-Bal will be the one surfing the skies in silver for The Fantastic Four, and it’ll be Garner in the mo-cap suit. (Marvel has not yet commented on the casting as of publication.) She joins an all-star cast of Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Stranger Things 4 breakout Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch.

Matt Shakman, who helmed WandaVision for Disney+, will direct from a script by Josh Friedman, Jeff Kaplan, and Ian Springer. With a target release of July 25th, 2025, production is expected to start this summer.

Silver Surfer previously appeared in Fox’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007. The great body actor Doug Jones took on the physical role, while Laurence Fishburne did the voice work.