The Silver Surfer is one of the most beloved Marvel characters of all time. He appeared on the big screen in 2007, played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. The only problem was that the movie was the awful Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, directed by Tim Story, and the sequel to 2005's Fantastic Four.
Although critics called it an improvement over its predecessor, the film was critically panned, and it killed the franchise, even though it managed to double its budget worldwide. It not only angered Silver Surfer fans, it also transformed Galactus – a character without whom there would be no Silver Surfer – into a cloud. Will 20th Century Fox ever try to bring this superhero to life?
Stan Lee - who helped shape the story of Norrin Radd after Jack Kirby created the character – recently told SyFy Wire that there is only one Marvel hero he wants to see as the main character in a solo movie. That hero is Silver Surfer:
He's the one I want to see more. He's the most philosophical of all the characters I've ever worked on. And I have an idea for my cameo in that one!
Again, this particular Herald of Galactus had his chance in the original Fantastic Four movies. Since Fox’s last attempt to bring Marvel's First Family to life failed miserably, we can understand the fans’ hesitation to even hope for a new big-screen iteration.
Rumor has it that the studio is already working on another Fantastic Four reboot. If that’s true, it should arrive no later than 2023 if the studio wants to retain the rights to the team and affiliated characters.
In addition, the X-Men will finally go cosmic in X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which will arrive in 2018. Who’s to say that the arrival of the Shi'ar Empire won't bring with it an even wider expansion of the X-Men Movie Universe?
