Fantastic Four: Julia Garner Responds to Female Silver Surfer Backlash

Kevin Feige has decided that that MCU’s first appearance of the Silver Surfer will be female, which fits with his bomb of approach to the MCU following Avengers: Infinity War.

Julia Garner will play the female Silver Surfer in Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps which gets released in two weeks.

Fans haven’t been happy with Feige and the MCU following Endgame, which is evident by a string of failures on the big screen and on Disney+. Recent bombs include Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, joined by Ironheart and Daredevil: Born Again.

What does Julia Garner say?

BBC News recently caught up with Julia Garner who addressed criticism over the gender-swapped female Silver Surfer role:

“I’m just going to still do my job… and also it’s Shalla-Bal so it’s different… I was just happy that people are resonating with it and just like any other project, So I’m grateful to be at this dance, to be completely honest with you.”

Fans worried Fantastic Four is woke

In addition to Julia Garner as the female Silver Surfer, fans are worried that Sue Storm is the girl boss in Fantastic Four. Marvel Comics also just published a new comic book where Sue is apparently the leader of the team and has replaced Mr. Fantastic Reed Richards.

Pedro Pascal’s Reed, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s The Thing also all seem emasculated in the movie, again which fits with Feige’s post-Endgame approach that has been a big failure.

Yeah saw that. Marvel is a joke.

— Cosmic Book News (@cosmicbooknews) July 10, 2025

Wait, isn’t the Silver Surfer a man?

Garner even previously questioned playing the Silver Surfer as she said, “So when I got presented with this opportunity, I was like, ‘Wait, what? Me?’ Yeah, I was in disbelief…”

She added, “And then 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 [laughs].’”

The Fantastic Four: First Steps opens July 25.