The Silver Surfer might have soared into the MCU without anyone knowing it.
One of the countless rumors for Avengers: Infinity War was that the long-popular character, the Silver Surfer, would appear.
While that never came about, actor Curt Clendenin recently hinted the Silver Surfer might very well have been in the film after all and could appear in the future.
Who is the Silver Surfer?
Debuting in the now-classic Fantastic Four #48 in 1966, the Silver Surfer was the herald of Galactus, a cosmic-powered being who feasts on the energies of entire planets.
According to Stan Lee, the Surfer’s unique appearance came from artist Jack Kirby who claimed he created the board “because I’m tired of drawing spaceships!”
Seeing the good in humanity, the Surfer defied Galactus, who responded by trapping Silver Surfer on Earth for years.
Silver Surfer is Norrin Radd, a scientist from the peaceful planet of Zenn-La. When Galactus came to make it his next meal, Radd went to his spaceship to plead for mercy.
Impressed by Radd’s courage, Galactus offered a bargain: He would spare Zenn-La if Norrin agreed to become his Herald and find new worlds to feed on. Agreeing, Norrin was given the Power Cosmic to become the Surfer.
Eventually, the Surfer managed to escape Earth to roam across space in various adventures. He’s usually seen whenever a major cosmic crossover event occurs.
The character gained fame in the 2007 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer movie, played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. Numerous attempts at a solo movie have been attempted since the ’90s.
Surfer in the MCU
The Surfer being in the MCU would be tricky as, like the Fantastic Four, Fox held the character’s rights. Thus, fans were doubtful when rumors came in 2017 that Curt Clendenin was playing the Surfer.
It appeared an offbeat choice as Clendenin is mostly a director whose acting credits comprise of background roles. One theory was that, just as in the 2007 movie, Clendenin would play the role on set, and an A-list actor would provide the voice.
The fact the Surfer never appeared at all seemed to end that. But talking to ComicBookMovie, Clendenin offered an intriguing non-answer when asked about the rumors.
“Yeah. Geez. I… I’m not really allowed to say too much about what any of it’s… You know, there’s a lot. I don’t know if you’ve seen, like the… the Russo brothers are good at… how do I put it? They’re good at leaving Easter Eggs too, and they like to have fun with things, you know? (Laughs)
I’m just not; I can’t… I can’t really say. It’s like, you know how George Lucas treats his sets? You go into an audition for a movie called Blue Mountain. And it turns out, he’s like, ‘no, surprise, it’s Star Wars.’
So, I have to leave some secrecy. I don’t know how else to explain it, but time, ideally, will tell. There’s a lot of stuff that’s not shown, and we’ve heard of all these new Marvel shows that are coming out, and we’ve heard about, let’s say, certain side projects that directors may or may not have been rumored to work on.
And so…
While not openly saying he was the Surfer, Clendenin confirms he was on set and the evasiveness of his answer is intriguing.
The Silver Surfer in the MCU
Clendenin’s words are interesting as it indicates that maybe the Surfer was one of the many unused ideas for the film. Various books have shown many plotlines or moments were developed before being dropped from the final cut.
Rough footage of a test scene indicates Captain Marvel’s appearance in Endgame was to take place during a fight against Thanos’ forces on Vormir.
As usual, the Russo Brothers are tight-lipped on what moments never made it to the final film.
Rumors spread the Surfer would appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but director James Gunn has said that was never considered.
Marvel has already announced plans for the Fantastic Four to enter the MCU. Galactus would be a terrific threat for a future movie, and where he goes, the Surfer follows ahead.
As for the possibility of Clendenin’s footage as the Surfer existing, the actor offered a vague answer once more.
“You never know what kind of interesting nuggets may come to the surface. We always hear about how pilots for certain TV shows were shot and stuff, and they never saw the light of day. And then years later, someone ends up uploading something to a YouTube channel.”
It might be that the Surfer of the Spaceways becomes part of the MCU sooner than fans anticipate.