But, as pointed out in the original casting report and as we now know from seeing the movie, Garner did not simply replace Silver Surfer with a female version. She plays someone separate from the Norrin Raad character that’s actually in the comics: Shalla-Bal.

Fantastic Four: First Steps marks the first time the Silver Surfer has appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was a bit jarring for some that Julia Garner was cast as the surfer and that they were a woman instead of a man. However, there’s a possible explanation for why this is different from the comics and previous Fantastic Four movies.

First Steps premiered in theaters last week and kicks off Phase Six of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It drops viewers into a retrofuturistic world where -- due to an accident that mutated them and gave them powers -- the heroes are Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal),