Julia Garner Responds To Fantastic Four Silver Surfer Backlash
In the newest take on the beloved Marvel comics, the titular Fantastic Four will be played by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and the film will see them defend Earth from Galactus and the Silver Surfer.
If you're familiar with the Fantastic Four comics and the previous film adaptations, you'll know that the Silver Surfer has traditionally been depicted as a man. Memorably, in 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the shiny humanoid alien character was played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. In light of this, there were some mixed responses when it was revealed that, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Silver Surfer would be played by a woman, Julia.
For what it's worth, critics of the gender-swapped role predominantly changed their tune when the first trailer dropped and they actually got to see a glimpse of Julia in action. But, still, the initial pushback was there.
And now, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps dropping later this month, Julia has addressed the discourse during an interview with the BBC at the film's London premiere, clarifying that she's been solely focused on putting her own spin on the iconic villain role.
'I said, 'I'm just going to still do my job,'' she told the outlet, laughing it off. 'Also, it's Shalla-Bal, so it's different.'
In the 2007 Fantastic Four movie and in the original comics, the Silver Surfer is a young astronamer named Norrin Radd. Shalla-Bal is depicted in the comics as the love interest of Norrin, and so, in the new movie adaptation, Marvel Studios made the decision to make the Silver Surfer a woman by reimagining the character as Shalla-Bal.
If you're confused, you can read a full breakdown of the Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer context here.
When asked about the positive reception to the trailer, Julia then added: 'I was just happy that people are resonating with it, just like any other project. I'm grateful to be at this dance, to be completely honest with you.'
Well, I for one will be seated in the theater on July 25. You can watch Julia's interview with the BBC here.
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