Is that the herald of Galactus we hear?

(Image credit: 20th Century Studios)

The Silver Surfer could be coming to Disney Plus – even before the incoming Fantastic Four movie arrives in 2024.

At least, that’s the rumor over at entertainment news site Cosmic Circus (opens in new tab), which claims that a Silver Surfer TV special could be making its way to Disney Plus sooner rather than later.

For those who don’t remember, or would rather forget, the metal-bodied messenger appeared in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and generally appears when heralding the arrival of Galactus – a gigantic, world devouring entity, next to whom Thanos would look no bigger than its thumb.

We saw Galactus briefly in Fox’s 2007 flick, though there’s been no mention of the character, or Silver Surfer, in the MCU so far.

However, we’d love to see the Silver Surfer revisited in a fun Marvel format – and we know the company is moving forward with more ‘presentations’ that help to introduce or highlight characters while avoiding the longer work and expense demanded by 10-episode TV series and three-hour feature films. 

We’re already getting a Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special later this year, and Cosmic Circus has suggested we’ll see the mysterious in-progress Silver Surfer project debut in the same way on Disney's streaming platform.

It would make sense to do the same for Silver Surfer, especially given the limp critical response to the last film in which the character appeared.

Silver Surfer on Disney Plus: will it happen?

This feels like a thin rumor so far, but it does seem likely in the context of the MCU. We know that, since Disney’s acquisition of Fox was completed in 2019, the merged companies have had big ambitions for previously Fox-owned IP (the possible X-Men link at the end of Ms Marvel shows another route for some of those Fox IPs to link to the MCU, too).

We already have a Fantastic Four movie confirmed for 2024, and a Silver Surfer special would be a good way to set up that film’s story ahead of a theatrical release – especially if Galactus is being set up as the next big bad for the MCU. 

Currently, that position goes to Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors (The Harder They Fall), who’s set to be the focus for the next Avengers movie, Kang Dynasty, which releases in 2025. 

But Marvel could well start seeding later villains in the years leading up to the release of Avengers 5. With this many films, TV shows, and special presentations dropping each year, there are countless threads to start weaving together.

For Marvel-related content, check out our breakdown of how to watch the Marvel movies in order, as well as our report on Florence Pugh's rumored MCU involvement beyond the Thunderbolts movie. 

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