- The Fantastic Four: First Steps has unveiled its first trailer
- Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star
- Who does Julia Garner play?
Marvel’s first family have arrived, marked by the debut trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps – but how does Julia Garner fit into the story?
This latest offering from Marvel Studios teases a retro-hued fresh start for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s set to take us right back to the heroes that started everything off, all while kick-starting Phase Six.
Read more: What we know about The Fantastic Four: First Steps as trailer lands
The film stars Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards AKA the elastic Mister Fantastic. He’s joined by Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm AKA The Thing.
That’s the main cast – and each featured in Marvel’s first trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps. However, one other star was noticeably absent – and that’s Garner.
Read more: Who’s in The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast?
So who does Garner play in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and where might we have seen her before? Below, you’ll find everything you need to know about Garner and her role in Marvel’s latest costumed epic.
Who does she play in The Fantastic Four: First Steps?
Garner joined director Matt Shakman’s cast in April 2024 as the Silver Surfer – but not the Silver Surfer. According to reports, Garner will play Shalla-Bal, the love interest of the primary Silver Surfer, also known as Norrin Radd.
In Marvel comics lore, Radd is the Herald of Galactus, a character played by Ralph Ineson in Shakman’s movie. Galactus is an all-powerful being who destroys and consumes plants to keep himself alive. Radd becomes a partner in this world-destroying quest so that Galactus will spare his own planet, Zenn-la.
However, it’s important to remember that Marvel often plays around with elements of its own lore. Now the studio has entered its multiverse era, rumors have suggested Garner could be playing another version of Shalla-Bal. This one is Galactus’s herald instead of Norrin Rad.
In this version of the story, Shall-Bal is known as Sunglow. Whether or not this will actually happen has yet to be confirmed by Marvel.
Meanwhile, Garner herself has remained tight-lipped about the role. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, she started by saying “I can’t really speak a lot about that project,” before revealing that the character will be “really shiny.”
“All I can just say is that I’m very lucky to have a part in that project, and the Fantastic Four are fantastic. They are so amazing in this,” said Garner. “I’m very excited for people to see them. I’m assuming that this Silver Surfer is gonna be really shiny like in the other previous ones and the comic books. So, yeah, that’s all I’m gonna say.”
Who is Julia Garner?
Garner is an American actress known for her roles in Netflix crime drama Ozark and most recently, Leigh Whannell’s Wolf Man remake.
Born in February 1994, Garner made her screen debut alongside Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson in 2011’s Martha Marcy May Marlene before graduating to a starring role with Rory Culkin in 2012’s Electrik Children.
Performances in The Last Exorcism Part II and Sin City sequel A Dame to Kill For followed. However, it was her starring role as Ruth Langmore in the money laundering series Ozark in 2017 that really shot Garner to fame.
Since then, she’s starred in Inventing Anna, a Netflix miniseries about the American fraudster Anna Delvey and the 2022 Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A.
Beyond her role as Silver Surfer Shalla-Bal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Garner is also attached to play Madonna in an upcoming movie biopic entitled Who’s That Girl.
