Julia Garner Responds to Backlash Over Female Silver Surfer in ‘Fantastic Four’: “I’m Just Still Going to Do My Job”
Julia Garner has finally addressed the mixed reactions from fans after it was announced she’d be playing a female version of Silver Surfer in Marvel’s upcoming film The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The casting sparked online debate, with some fans celebrating the choice and others upset that the character’s gender had been changed.
When asked about her initial reaction to the role, Garner said she actually had two.
“The first one, I was like, I’m just still going to do my job, and also it’s Shalla-Bal, so it’s different. And then the second one you know, I was just happy that people are resonating with it just like any other project. So I’m just grateful to be at this dance, to be completely honest with you.” Garner said.
This is not the first time that the actress is speaking about the gender swap. A few months ago, Garner admitted she was a little confused when she first found out she was being considered to play the Silver Surfer in Marvel’s upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Garner said she didn’t know the version of the character she was being asked to play.
“I met up with [director Matt Shakman], who’s lovely,” she said. “We met up at some restaurant in Burbank or something, I don’t even remember, but I knew it was for the Fantastic Four.”
She explained that at the time, she wasn’t sure how it all made sense.
“I was confused because I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t the Silver Surfer a man?’ I was just like, ‘Okay, well, I’ll play anything,’” Garner laughed.
It turns out the version she’s playing is Shalla-Bal, not Norrin Radd, the male Silver Surfer that fans saw in the 2007 film Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, where Doug Jones played the character physically and Laurence Fishburne provided the voice.
In First Steps, Garner plays Shalla-Bal, who is the empress of the planet Zenn-La and also Norrin Radd’s lover in the comics. Their love story takes a dark turn when Norrin becomes the herald of Galactus to save their planet, which forces them apart.
Garner said Shakman explained all of this during their meeting, and that helped things click for her.
“He was explaining to me that it’s actually Shalla-Bal and that whole thing,” she said.
Talking about the role itself, Garner hinted that the character won’t be easy to pin down.
“There’s this mystery about her, and there’s this sense of this ambiguous energy going on — of whether she’s good or not,” she said. “She is the herald of Galactus, so she works for Galactus, but you’re not sure where she stands. Does she stand with her boss, or is she just doing what she’s told? She has this mysterious energy about her, and slowly that mystery will get solved with the audience throughout watching it.”
When asked if she’d be open to leading a solo Marvel movie as Shalla-Bal, she didn’t hesitate.
“A hundred percent, I would love to do that,” she said.
Garner also said she finds it exciting to play a character that brings some mystery to the screen.
“The Silver Surfer is such a cool character, and I feel like it’s so rare to be presented with any sort of mystery in this day and age,” she said. “So any kind of energy like that on screen, I know I want to see that, so that would be awesome if that happened.”
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