Why the MCU Needs to Introduce Silver Surfer Before Galactus

Now that Disney officially owns the live-action rights to the characters under the X-Men and Fantastic Four umbrellas, plenty of new opportunities have opened up for the team at Marvel Studios. While many fans are focusing on Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and the rest of the X-Men, a pair of Fantastic Four-based characters would make an incredible addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, taking the cosmic side of the world to a new level not seen before.

Of course, I’m talking about Silver Surfer and Galactus. The two have gone together better than peanut butter and jelly or Rocket Raccoon and Groot — but it doesn’t need to be that way in the MCU. The thing is, Galactus isn’t really a one-off character, no matter which way you look at it. While the production house might be done taking 22 movies and 10 years to build up to a villain, the world-eater is likely something they’d build up to over a trilogy or mini-crossover between the cosmic side of the MCU.

And that, for the most part, is why Kevin Feige and company so introduce Silver Surfer much longer before they introduce Galactus. While Galactus is a larger-than-life character that needs some time to grow and develop, Silver Surfer is an incredibly interesting character right off the bat.

If it takes a while to get to Galactus, here’s what they could do — make Norrin Radd a retired Herald of Galactus. By the time we see him in the MCU, he’s already broken free of the strings that tied him to his previous master. This way, the masses would first be introduced to the character as a hero looking for help instead of serving as a sign of an impending apocalypse.

Better yet, let’s not kid ourselves — Marvel Studios loves to have villains to perfectly mirror the protagonists. What better way to live up to that reputation than having Silver Surfer face off in one movie against Galactus’ current Herald — say a character like Firelord, Morg, or Terrax — before leading into a film that features Galactus more prominently. Think of it as the cosmic version of what Marvel did with Dormammu in Doctor Strange — while his presence was felt throughout the movie, he was only on-screen for a single scene, setting him up for a much bigger role at some point later in the timeline.

Who do you think should be introduced first — Silver Surfer or Galactus? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt to talk all things cosmic Marvel!

Avengers: Endgame is now in theaters and will be followed by Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 2nd. You can watch Captain Marvel digitally now ahead of a home media release Tuesday, June 11th.