The latest star plucked from the indie world to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Julia Garner, who is set to join the cast of “The Fantastic Four,” IndieWire has confirmed.
Garner will reportedly play Shalla-Bal, who first appeared in the original Silver Surfer comics. She is the Empress of the planet that the Silver Surfer calls home and is a centuries-old alien who still has the appearance of a young woman. Other plot details are still under wraps.
Garner joins a cast that includes Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as the Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing. Their casting was announced in a Valentine’s Day tweet earlier this year.
Marvel had no comment.
Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) is directing “The Fantastic Four” from a script by Jeff Kaplan and Ian Springer. Shakman joined the project after originally being attached to direct the fourth “Star Trek” film for Paramount.
“The Fantastic Four” hits theaters July 25, 2025, pushed from its originally planned date on May 2, 2025, which will now be the home to Marvel’s “Thunderbolts” instead. It’s part of Marvel’s Phase 6, which also includes two “Avengers” films and the “Blade” reboot. “Avengers 5” was originally subtitled “The Kang Dynasty” but is being re-named after star Jonathan Majors was dropped from the franchise.
Julia Garner is one of the hottest rising stars in town. She was recently meant to play Madonna in the biopic on the pop sensation’s life, but that project fell apart. Most recently she starred in “The Royal Hotel” and she’s currently filming the “Wolf Man” movie for Universal alongside Christopher Abbott, and she’s also starring in the thriller “Apartment A” for Paramount and producer Michael Bay. She’s won three Emmys for her work on Netflix’s “Ozark” and was also nominated for her work in the Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” where she played fraudster Anna Delvey.
The new “Fantastic Four” movie was announced in 2020 after Disney acquired the characters through its acquisition of 20th Century Fox. The first “Fantastic Four” film was released in 2005, followed by 2007 sequel “The Silver Surfer.” The franchise was rebooted with 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” which was critically panned.
Garner is represented by UTA and LBI Entertainment.
Deadline first reported the news.
