Julia Garner to Play Silver Surfer’s Girlfriend Shalla-Bal in Marvel’s ‘The Fantastic Four’

We first broke the news that a Female Silver Surfer is set to appear in the MCU’s ‘The Fantastic Four‘ film. It is now confirmed that Emmy winner Julia Garner will play the character in the film. According to Deadline, Garner will portray Shalla-Bal, a version of Silver Surfer from the Marvel comics.

Who is Shalla-Bal in Marvel Comics?

In Marvel Comics, Shalla-Bal is connected to the Silver Surfer. She’s from the planet Zenn-La and is important because she’s the Silver Surfer’s girlfriend. They have a deep relationship in the comics. Shalla-Bal is smart, kind, and brave, just like the Silver Surfer.

Directed by Matt Shakman, the original script for ‘Fantastic Four,’ written by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer, is undergoing a rewrite by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. It is expected to be finished in a month or two. Filming is set to begin in August in London.

Marvel recently revealed the F4 cast lineup: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as The Human Torch.

According to Marvel President Kevin Feige, the Fantastic Four film will not have an origin story. He said (via THR), “A lot of people know this origin story. A lot of people know the basics. How do we take that and bring something that they’ve never seen before?” Feige added, “We’ve set a very high bar for ourselves with bringing that to the screen.”

According to the rumored plot, “The film opens with 1963 on Earth, where a world that was once perfect is now slowly dying due to incursions across the multiverse. Reed Richards (Pascal) has been trying to restructure his world for weeks, but theirs has just too many incursions. Reed begins to explain to his family what’s going on before studying time travel and quickly making a time machine with H.E.R.B.I.E. While Johnny ( Quinn) goofs around with Ben (Moss-Bachrach) in the lab, Sue (Kirby) then gets upset with Reed because she thinks he isn’t doing enough to save their reality until a loud signal goes off on the computer warning about the coming of Galactus. The Fab Four will then have a standoff with the planet eater for the first time before escaping their universe and time-traveling to Earth-616.”

We have reported that Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, the son and daughter of Mister Fantastic and Susan Storm, will appear in the film.

Produced by Feige, Grant Curtis, and Nick Pepin.

Garner became more famous after winning her first Emmy for playing Ruth in Ozark. She also got nominated for another Emmy for her role as Anna Delvey in Inventing Anna.

‘Fantastic Four’ hits theaters on July 25, 2025.