Some viewers of Fantastic Four: First Steps are wondering why the Silver Surfer is a woman. Throughout the character’s existence, the Silver Surfer has been a man, which makes Julia Gardner’s casting in the role a bit confusing. However, there’s a theory that explains the reasoning behind the Silver Surfer’s gender swap in First Steps.
Why the Silver Surfer is a female in Fantastic Four: First Steps
Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the first time the Silver Surfer has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was a bit jarring for some that Julia Garner was cast as the surfer and that they were a woman instead of a man. However, there’s a possible explanation for why this is different from the comics and previous Fantastic Four movies.
In the prime Marvel universe (Earth-616), Galactus approached Zenn-La. A man named Norrin Radd offered to be his herald if Galactus would spare his planet. Galactus agreed and imbued Norrin Radd with the Power Cosmic, turning him into the Silver Surfer. He then left his wife Shalla-Bal behind and spent the next century guiding Galactus to new planets to consume.
In the Fantastic Four: First Steps universe (Earth-828) events unfolded much the same, but it was Shalla-Bal who ended up volunteering to become Galactus’s herald. The movie didn’t go into a lot of detail about how this unfolded, but it could have been as simple as a coin landing heads instead of tails.
While Shalla-Bal ended up becoming the Silver Surfer in the Earth-828 universe, it’s possible that Norrin Radd ended up as the herald of Galactus in the prime universe. We haven’t seen Earth-616’s version of Galactus and the Silver Surfer, but we wouldn’t be surprised if they appear at some point.
So, don’t count Norrin Radd and a male Silver Surfer out of the MCU just yet. Phase Six has just started, and Marvel is sure to have some twists up its sleeve for Avengers: Doomsday and beyond.