Disney Irish
Premium Member
Maybe they’ll have both Norrin and Shalla-Bal in the movie. Just have to wait to see what happens.
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Marvel's Fantastic Four
- Thread starter Darkprime
- Start date
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
Agreed. While the silver surfer isn't some super A-list character, he is by far most well known as a male character. Very few outside of the comics crowd know of any other version. The Norrin version should be what they focus on, then add in the other version later. Right or wrong, this will most likely get a lot of criticism as a "See, Disney just can't help themselves with this gender swapping". I'll be very interested to see how the reactions go.
Who Is Marvel's Shalla-Bal? New Silver Surfer Explained
Here's what you need to know about Julia Garner's MCU character.
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
From that article, I found this part rather interesting-
"Although Shalla-Bal has largely been portrayed as a humanoid alien ruler in the main Marvel canon, she did become the Silver Surfer in the separate continuity of the Earth X miniseries. In a brief appearance in the issue, both Shalla-Bal and Norrin were both given the Power Cosmic and dubbed the twin-heralds of a new Galactus, Franklin Richards, only for Shalla-Bal to quickly be killed."
So, this character has been mostly portrayed as a humanoid alien ruler of some place, and in an separate continuity for a "brief appearance" she was given the power the Silver Surfer has and was quickly killed.
So, she's not the Silver Surfer. She's Shalla-Bal. This has some sniffs of going over as well as Dar-Benn in The Marvels.
"Although Shalla-Bal has largely been portrayed as a humanoid alien ruler in the main Marvel canon, she did become the Silver Surfer in the separate continuity of the Earth X miniseries. In a brief appearance in the issue, both Shalla-Bal and Norrin were both given the Power Cosmic and dubbed the twin-heralds of a new Galactus, Franklin Richards, only for Shalla-Bal to quickly be killed."
So, this character has been mostly portrayed as a humanoid alien ruler of some place, and in an separate continuity for a "brief appearance" she was given the power the Silver Surfer has and was quickly killed.
So, she's not the Silver Surfer. She's Shalla-Bal. This has some sniffs of going over as well as Dar-Benn in The Marvels.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
If she’s just the humanoid character Shalla-Bal and Norrin also exists and is the Silver Surfer then it’s cool and a different thing. But this is being leaked as she’ll be playing Shalla-Bal the cosmic power endowed female Surfer. And I don’t think that is a wise move.
Also, in general, I wouldn’t use Galactus or the Surfer in the first film anyway.
Also, in general, I wouldn’t use Galactus or the Surfer in the first film anyway.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Note the skyline. This isn’t our universe.
Vegas Disney Fan
Well-Known Member
I just read a news article on MSN, which caused me to search here, and of the 30 or so comments all but 2 were negative, those 2 must have been from more knowledgeable fans because they were talking about Shala-Bal… as a casual fan I have no idea who that is. If the initial reaction is an indication this one’s going to struggle also.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Yes, anything Disney produces will face the same bad faith attacks. It doesn’t mean Disney should cave.
Galactus and the four leads are cast perfectly in line with their comic counterparts. It seems very likely this will be an alternative universe Surfer (look at the skyline). There is precedent in the comics for female heralds and even a female Surfer. We already have a (very bad) movie with a male Surfer. The Surfers gender is not important to the character. And finally - very few of the people complaining care AT ALL about the Silver Surfer.
If you go to that link, you get:
Note the QR code which takes you to...
Giving access to read those issues online.
And indeed a lot leads to alternate earth clues.
Fantastic Four: What Might Marvel's Free 4-4 Day Comics Tell Us About the Movie?
The Fantastic Four hints at the movie's story with some free comics.
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
Suddenly the usual suspects are experts in the powers of the Silver Surfer and declaring one quick instance of another character gaining the powers for a tiny bit before dying is a definitive Marvel Silver Surfer for the masses at this time.
Disney can't read the room and neither can they.
Disney can't read the room and neither can they.
Remember how for every single D+ Marvel series the usual suspects were predicting where the plot was going (or, how the plot *should* be going if they were in charge) based on the comic run the story was based on?
And then they were all wrong. ("Mephisto!!")
And then they were mad because they were wrong?
And then any Marvel project that stumbled was their chance to dogpile on it to prove they were right and Marvel was wrong?
Yeah... fun times.
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
A lot of people here know a lot more about the Silver Surfer then you do.
And the room you’re in is a lot smaller then you think.
MoonRakerSCM
Well-Known Member
And only you have good faith comments as everyone else has "bad faith attacks" right?
LSLS
Well-Known Member
Honestly it's a weird risk to me. Sounds like there is a female version, but only for a short time in the comics. But, I know I definitely associate with a male version (and probably every other person who is not a big comic person is the same). Honestly I don't really care (in no small part because F4 don't move the needle for me), but with the backlash they have faced in the last year, it seems like an unnecessary risk to take in a movie that you HAVE to knock out of the park.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
This is my take. In isolation, using an obscure character for the Silver Surfer instead of the mainstream version wouldn't be a big deal especially as it's probably the part is relatively small in the movie. But the situation is that the MCU has been having diminishing returns - for various reasons - and they need to put as strong a foot forward as possible. The Silver Surfer is not an A-list character, but he has some degree of popularity and I think there would be a decent interest in seeing the character "done right" compared the rather underwhelming Rise of the Silver Surfer movie. I know the 90's Silver Surfer cartoon while only lasting one season seems to have a really good rep and following among comic book/Marvel fans.
So, I view this move as a silly unneeded risk with little upside. More representation is good, but is a bad way to do it. I'd say if they wanted to have a female herald of Galactus then they should either use Nova or they should just make a new character rather than go with Shalla-Bal. The way that they seem to be doing it (admittedly, we don't know the specifics, nor could leaks be entirely accurate) is unnecessarily pouring gasoline on the fire of the critics of Marvel and Disney and is financially idiotic for a company struggling with their film's box office.
Now, maybe this will all turn out to be inaccurate and the actress is simply playing Shalla-Bal, the love interest of Norrin Radd and Norrin will me the regular (male) Silver Surfer. And if that's the case, I take this back because that would make sense and be reasonable.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Two more (unrelated to each other) points...
1. If they want to increase diversity/representation in the MCU - which they should! - the way to do it is to use established (even if less well know) characters in their main form. It's better to have a "comic book accurate" version of a less popular character than a gender (or race, etc) swapper version of an established well-known character. While Marvel, like most comic books, doesn't have as big a catalog of female or minority characters as it does white males, there are still a ton of options out there can be used.
And, no, Shalla-Bal is not such a character if she is being used as the "Silver Surfer" of that movie. The Silver Surfer is Norrin Radd.
2. I think it is a dumb move to have Galactus as the main antagonist of this film, if that is how it plays out. Nor would I use Dr. Doom, as awesome as he is. It's better to do like they did with Homecoming and Vulture and use characters that have not been (unsuccessfully) used in previous films. The FF has a pretty solid rogues gallery than could be utilized. I personally would have gone with someone like the Red Ghost, Mole Man or the Mad Thinker. But if they want something cosmic, why not Blastaar or Annihilus??
1. If they want to increase diversity/representation in the MCU - which they should! - the way to do it is to use established (even if less well know) characters in their main form. It's better to have a "comic book accurate" version of a less popular character than a gender (or race, etc) swapper version of an established well-known character. While Marvel, like most comic books, doesn't have as big a catalog of female or minority characters as it does white males, there are still a ton of options out there can be used.
And, no, Shalla-Bal is not such a character if she is being used as the "Silver Surfer" of that movie. The Silver Surfer is Norrin Radd.
2. I think it is a dumb move to have Galactus as the main antagonist of this film, if that is how it plays out. Nor would I use Dr. Doom, as awesome as he is. It's better to do like they did with Homecoming and Vulture and use characters that have not been (unsuccessfully) used in previous films. The FF has a pretty solid rogues gallery than could be utilized. I personally would have gone with someone like the Red Ghost, Mole Man or the Mad Thinker. But if they want something cosmic, why not Blastaar or Annihilus??
Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
We have no idea what they're doing with the story.
More importantly, you continue to act as though the uproar over changing characters has anything to do with the reality of the films. Which characters have been gender-swapped to cause the outrage with the MCU up to now? Beloved figures like the Ancient One and the original Captain Marvel. The outrage is manufactured nonsense.
And the Silver Surfer cartoon is not beloved among comics fans. Its a footnote.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
So the thing that is not really an issue but is just a horrible smear is actually an issue?
zomg!! I just found out that Nick Fury is now Black!!!
Ghost93
Well-Known Member
I agree this is questionable from a business standpoint. Unlike Eternals, which are incredibly niche and few care if they are race or gender-swapped, Silver Surfer is fairly well known and people already have pre-conceived notions about what they want from a film version of Silver Surfer. I'm afraid this could feed into the unfortunate narrative that Disney is just pushing diversity for diversity's sake.
That being said, Julia Garner is a good actress and there is still a chance she could pull this off. I wouldn't have personally made this choice as I think the potential risks outweigh the potential benefits, but Garner might end up surprising people.