With a new version of the Fantastic Four on the horizon, the introduction of Celestials and the cosmic side of this MCU coming to the fore in Phase 4, fans might actually see the Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd) make his debut (his first cinematic appearance since 2007). Rumours suggest Rami Malek might play the role, and fans are already getting behind the idea of the actor playing Silver Surfer.
With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, fans got their first look into what the Fantastic Four might look like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Granted, we only saw an alternate reality version of Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic, but that was enough to get fans working on theories about what the next Fantastic Four film could be all about.
Rumours of a new Fantastic Four film abound since the catastrophic failure of 2015’s Fant4stic; a movie so bad that most people would rather pretend it never happened, this cinematic dumpster fire caused a ton of damage to the Fantastic Four franchise – so much so that they have hardly been involved in comics storylines as of late.
However, now that Disney owns the rights to the Fantastic Four, and one of its most prominent members has already made his debut in the MCU, a new film sounds more plausible than ever. With a new movie, there must also come a new cast: it’s highly unlikely that the higher-ups at Disney would like to reuse the same cast as the failed 2015 film – especially since Michael B. Jordan, who played the Human Torch in Fant4stic, also played Killmonger in Black Panther.
All that said, the current state of the MCU is one of expansion into the unknown. While Thanos and the Infinity Stones were all the rage in the previous four Phases, Phase Four has taken the franchise into exciting new territory, introducing characters like the Eternals and expanding on the lore of the Celestials. This is why a new Fantastic Four film would, more than likely, introduce one of the most iconic cosmic entities in the comic books to the MCU: Galactus.
Every planet that Galactus consumes is first visited by his most prominent Herald, the Silver Surfer. An enigmatic and tragic character that belongs to some of the most emblematic moments in the history of Marvel Comics, the Silver Surfer has never gotten the recognition he deserves in a live-action adaptation yet.
If the rumours of a new Fantastic Four flick turn out to be true, then we believe that Rami Malek would be perfect for the role – and it seems like most people agree with this notion. Back in 2020, there was some gossip going around about a potential Fantastic Four reboot being in the works at Marvel, with Rami Malek attached to the project as the Silver Surfer. However, nothing came out of this, leaving fans wondering when the superpowered family would return to the big screen.
After his outstanding performance in Bohemian Rhapsody, the actor has proved himself more than capable of handling characters that must deal with their inner demons at every step. We believe that Rami Malek will do well with the Silver Surfer, whose tortured past is evident from the very first encounter. The Surfer chooses to travel across the cosmos, searching for meaning in a universe that is indifferent towards life, in eternal servitude to a cruel and relentless titan.
In 2018, American comic book writer Brian K. Vaughan revealed that he was working on a Silver Surfer solo film. Not much was heard about the project, but seeing Disney+’s current approach to introducing new characters to the MCU, we also wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out that Silver Surfer receives his own show on the streaming platform.
Introducing the Silver Surfer in the same way that Marvel did to Moon Knight could certainly be beneficial for fans that aren’t all that familiar with the characters from the comics. Also, knowing how great Rami Malek is when working on serialized shows (Mr. Robot, anyone?) it would be a pleasure to see him playing Silver Surfer in an MCU show first before he moves on to the big screen.
