A question from the Marvel ignorant

[HardyGirl]

Ok, since I only know about DC and Spidey & Hulk, I have a question about the Fantastic Four movie. I thought the FF consisted of The Thing, Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Girl & The Human Torch. What does The Silver Surfer have to do w/ the FF? Doesn't he make 5?

[The Toyroom]

Quick lesson:
The Silver Surfer was formally Norrin Radd of the planet Zenn-La. One day world-devourer Galactus comes calling and says (paraphrasing here...:) )..."Norrin Radd be my herald and find other planets for me so I can consume their life force and I will spare your planet". Norrin says yes, even though he's gotta leave his chick Shalla Bal behind, and BAM!...he's given the power cosmic, a shiny surfboard and voila..he's The Silver Surfer, Sentinel of the Spaceways.
This new responsibility brings him into contact with Earth and it's up to the Fantastic Four, with a little assistance from Uatu the Watcher and a little gizmo called the Ultimate Nullifier, to stop Galactus from consuming earth....

....which they do, but not before battling it out with the Surfer in FF #48-50 (also known as "The Galactus Trilogy"). They become best buds with the Surfer and Galactus strips him of the ability to traverse the galaxy and he's stranded on erath. (Sorehead!).

Eventually, Galactus gives him the ability back and he finds a new herald (actually, he goes through a lot of them) to help him find new planets.

Ol' Big G has returned to earth a couple of times since.

Not sure how this plays out in the movie, though.:biggrin:

[HardyGirl]

Hmmmm...sounds too complicated. I knew there was a reason I never got into this stuff.

Thanks for the info!

[Merlyn1976]

Eventually, Galactus gives him the ability back and he finds a new herald (actually, he goes through a lot of them) to help him find new planets.

Wasn't the problem with leaving earth that he couldn't do it under his own power(i.e. on his board)?? The FF flew him into space right through the barrier with no problems correct??

[The Toyroom]

Yeah, on the board he'd hit an invisible barrier and be knocked on his *** back to earth...he's up and around again, so it's all good! :smiley1:

(Of course, now that Galactus has a new herald he never returns the Surfer's calls anymore...:biggrin:)
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Hmmmm...sounds too complicated. I knew there was a reason I never got into this stuff.

Thanks for the info!

Complicated? Believe me...that's the story in a nutshell. The Surfer has a long backstory over 40 (?) years, several series and guest-appearances in the FF, Defenders, Infinity Gauntlet and other books.

[jwyblejr]

One of the cartoons should have a better way to sum it up.

[Customslab]

the 66 ff4 cartoon did do a sum up version of this

[johnmiic]

Tis a sad statement indeed that the 1966 Hanna-Barberra cartoon adapted the Surfers tale better than the film did.