In Marvel's comic book canon, the Silver Surfer has traditionally been depicted as a male character named Norrin Radd. He was created by Jack Kirby in 1966 and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48. Norrin Radd becomes the Silver Surfer after offering to serve Galactus in exchange for sparing his home planet.

Over the past two decades, there have been two versions of the Fantastic Four, neither of which were particularly well-received. The dark and gritty 2015 reboot was even more disappointing for fans who felt that Marvel's First Family had once again been shortchanged on the big screen.