Julia Garner Female Silver Surfer Cast Controversy

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Craig @CS11_. Follow X Julia Garner is a phenomenal actor so i'm always happy to see her in more projects. I'm certain the internet won't turn the "Female Silver Surfer" headline into a WOKE conversation 4 DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm Julia Garner has been cast as a female Silver Surfer in 'FANTASTIC FOUR'. (Source: Deadline) 6:06 PM Apr 3, 2024

shreddy krueger @ElmstreetErick. Follow "a female silver surfer" not "the silver surfer" everybody g calm down sheesh just Culture Crave @CultureCrave Julia Garner is playing a female Silver Surfer in #FantasticFour (via @Deadline) 7:47 PM - Apr 3, 2024 X

CENSORED WHAT? MARVEL Please, be normal about Julia Garner playing Silver Surfer

Neb | @NebsGoodTakes Follow X CENSORED BAD NEWS FOR MCU WHAT? MARVEL Please, be normal about Julia Garner playing Silver Surfer R.I.P. Disney... GALACTIC MISTAKE The Hollywood Reporter SHUT UP INCEL The MCU Just Cast Female Silver Surfer Fantastic Four' Casts Julia Garner as Silver Surfer BREEL SHIFT Elite Okada @TenguRey The worst youtuber you know is making the worst video imaginable, with the worst thumbnail possible. 12:52 AM Apr 4, 2024

Elite Okada @Tengu Rey Follow The worst youtuber you know is making the worst video imaginable, with the worst thumbnail possible. 4 DiscussingFilm @DiscussingFilm Julia Garner has been cast as a female Silver Surfer in 'FANTASTIC FOUR'. (Source: Deadline) 6:22 PM - Apr 3, 2024 X

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Overview

Julia Garner Female Silver Surfer Cast Controversy or Julia Garner Silver Surfer Casting Debate refers to the viral debate and controversy relating to the 2025 The Fantastic Four film announcing actress Julia Garner to play as Shalla-Bal, a female version of the Silver Surfer character from Marvel Comics. The news, which broke in early April 2024, sparked widespread media coverage and debate on Twitter / X (among other platforms), as well as ironic memes about people who criticized the casting choice.

Background

On April 3rd, 2024, the news outlet Deadline^[1] revealed that American actress Julia Garner joined Marvel Studios‘ The Fantastic Four 2025 film cast as Shalla-Bal, a version of Silver Surfer from the comics. The news was also shared on Twitter / X by the account @DiscussingFilm^[2] that same day, which amassed more than 69,000 likes and 9,700 retweets in a day (seen below).

4 DiscussingFilm ⭑ @DiscussingFilm - Follow Julia Garner has been cast as a female Silver Surfer in 'FANTASTIC FOUR'. (Source: Deadline) 6:02 PM - Apr 3, 2024 X

Online Reactions

Shortly after the announcement, many netizens started to speculate that the decision of a female Silver Surfer would be turned into a viral debate on the internet. For example, on April 3rd, 2024, ^[3] X user @TenguRey reposted @DiscussingFilm's tweet and said, "The worst YouTuber you know is making the worst video imaginable, with the worst thumbnail possible." The post (shown below, left) amassed more than 59,000 likes and 4,600 retweets in a day.

A day later, on April 4th, X^[4] user @NebsGoodTakes gathered some thumbnails from various YouTubers criticizing Julia Garner's cast as Silver Surfer. The post (shown below, right) garnered over 22,000 likes and 1,700 retweets in a few hours.

Several YouTubers posted reactions to the news on April 3rd, 2024, some of them adding to the debate and controversy with their commentary. For example, YouTuber Tyrone Magnus uploaded a video titled "R.I.P Disney" that day, receiving over 65,000 views in 20 hours (seen below, left). Also that same day, YouTuber Ryan Kinel uploaded a video titled "Marvel DOUBLES DOWN On Woke M-She-U | Casts FEMALE Silver Surfer Julia Garner In Fantastic Four," receiving over 42,700 views in a similar timeframe (seen below, right).

Numerous discussions about the casting of Julia Garner as Shalla-Bal also appeared on Reddit in early April 2024, many of them including top-voted comments from Redditors joking about people reacting negatively to the announcement.^[5]^[6]