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Silver Surfer fans might have noticed something a little different about the character’s portrayal in The Fantastic Four: First Steps — and, no, I’m not talking about the fact that it’s Shalla-Bal, and not Norrin Radd, atop the surfboard. Instead, look at the luster of that silver skin… doesn’t it look a little bit less shiny than might be expected? That was the intent of director Matt Shakman all along, it seems.

“Matt was really interested in this idea of a tarnished mirror to communicate that she's been the Silver Surfer for so long,” Marvel Studios head of visual development Ryan Meinerding explained during an appearance at the Marvel: Comics to Screen panel at San Diego Comic-Con 2025. “Like, it's been millions of years.”

The idea of tarnishing Shalla-Bal’s silver finish served as more than just a sign that she was a long-serving cosmic entity, however; it also broke with the traditional idea of the character as a visually pristine, perfectly finished and reflective character, immediately making her more interesting for longtime fans as well as newcomers seeing this Silver Surfer for the first time.

As Meinerding put it, it’s something that “sort of gets this idea of, it's not just this perfect finish that I think some of some of you seen before. There's all kinds of ins and outs and details that are in there that hopefully communicate her age, and also just add a degree of interest that we haven't seen before for the character.”

This tarnished Silver Surfer can be seen in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in theaters now.

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