Could Laurence Fishburne Return As Silver Surfer Now That Disney Bought Fox?

Disney’s proposed purchase of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets has been agreed to by both parties in a deal that could take between 12 and 18 months.

Fans are already hard at work crafting theories for ways to merge Fox properties Fantastic Four, X-Men and Deadpool into the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe — home to the Avengers, Spider-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy franchises — and Reddit user atxknicks is theorizing Marvel Cinematic Universe newcomer Laurence Fishburne could reprise his voice role as the Silver Surfer from 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

Marvel Studios announced Fisburne’s involvement in Ant-Man sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp during San Diego Comic Con, revealing the veteran actor as scientist Dr. Bill Foster — a character who becomes super-sized hero Black Goliath (and, later, Giant-Man and Goliath) in the Marvel Comics.

Citing Fishburne’s recent comments hinting at a “secret project” with Marvel, the fan speculates the actor could soon be lending his voice once again to the Silver Surfer in Avengers 4 or another Marvel Studios production.

“I went to Marvel and pitched them something that really couldn’t work out—there was a lot of legal red tape that just [was] something they couldn’t work out,” Fishburne explained. “But then they came back with the offer for Ant-Man and the Wasp and then they said, ‘Hey, what do you think of this?’ and I went ‘Oh yeah that, yes!’ so…”

Fishburne, who communicated to Marvel he “wanted very much to be part of the Marvel universe,” reiterated that he pitched the company “a couple of ideas.”

“[I] basically said, ‘Look, if there’s anything I can do that makes sense for me to do in the Marvel universe, I would love to be involved,’” Fishburne recalled. “So they came to me with an offer to be Bill Foster in Ant-Man and the Wasp.”

The fan suggests the timing of those comments — just weeks before the Disney/Fox deal — could mean Fishburne is in talks to again lend his famous baritone to the cosmic superhero.

The Disney/Fox deal, if it goes through, won’t be finalized until somewhere between December 2018 and June 2019, if expectations for the regulatory process prove correct — meaning Marvel Studios couldn’t use Silver Surfer until sometime after those dates, ruling out any chance the character could appear as early as Avengers 4, which is already filming for a May 2019 release.

The character will make his Marvel Cinematic Universe bow eventually: Guardians of the Galaxy franchise writer-director James Gunn has already expressed an interest in someday using Galactus’ noble herald.

Ant-Man and the Wasp opens July 6.