Feature image of Silver Surfer by Patrick Zircher
Without question, one of the most beloved Marvel Characters of all-time, Silver Surfer first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 in 1966. Norrin Radd is the classic tragic hero – the one who sacrifices his own happiness to save the one he loves — and his entire planet to boot.
World-eating Galactus spares Radd’s planet but curses him with an eternal servitude of finding other planets to consume their bio-energy. He travel through space on….are you sitting down for this?….a cosmic surfboard. That sounds a little corny at first, but credit the the great Jack Kirby for making this not only cool, but so cool it made its way into pop culture.
The Silver Surfer made his movie debut in 2007’s “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” He and his surfboard didn’t look too bad, but most critics gave the movie a hard pass and the Fantastic Four would sit on the shelf until the 2015 Josh Trank debacle.
With Disney’s acquisition of Fox (and the Fantastic Four character rights), the Silver Surfer appearing in a future MCU film is almost a guarantee. My opinion is Marvel might tease Norrin Radd on his home planet before Galactus is introduced. It would give newer fans some context into Radd’s life and help make events to come more impactful. The Disney+ streaming service gives the MCU a great opportunity to build this universe thoughtfully without solely depending on the movies. I hope Norrin Radd is one of the sneak peeks into that future.
