Adam McKay’s Idea For A ‘Silver Surfer’ Film Is To Make It “An Environmental Allegory”

Adam McKay’s most recent films, “The Big Short,” “Vice,” and “Don’t Look Up” (based on the premise) all deal with political themes in a pretty explicit way. Sure, there’s the humor and heart that McKay has instilled in almost all of his features, dating back to his raunchy, R-rated Will Ferrell comedy days, but his later films don’t shy away from having a clear political viewpoint. And this idea of making sure there’s a message in his films is something that he would have continued to do if he was able to make the “Silver Surfer” superhero film he wanted to a couple of years ago.

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Speaking recently on the Happy. Sad. Confused. podcast, Adam McKay told the story about why his idea for a “Silver Surfer” Marvel film didn’t materialize. Though it sounds like it was mainly to do with some rights issues (if his timing is accurate, it would have happened right during Disney’s acquisition of Fox, which further complicated things), the filmmaker had a very clear idea for what he wanted to do with the cosmic hero.

“‘Silver Surfer’ was tricky,” explained McKay. “There was something about it, cause we did look into it. I think it’s connected to the ‘Fantastic Four’ and because of that kind of lives under its own umbrella. But there was something that got in the way of it cause we did look into it a couple of years ago, but I could be wrong. I could be misremembering, but there was some reason it didn’t happen or someone else was already working on it. But no, I was definitely into it because that would be a very easy one.”

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He continued, “If you look at Galactus and the origin story of the Silver Surfer, how he sacrificed himself for his home planet. Norrin Radd, was that his name? I haven’t thought that name in a long time. That would be a very easy one to make it an environmental allegory. I think that could be an incredible movie, and I think it could be visually the most stunning Marvel movie that’s ever been made. I haven’t lost interest in that. In fact, now that you mention it maybe I’ll lob a phone call and see what’s going on.”

He’s not wrong about the origins of Norrin Radd. As seen in the comics, Radd is a character that sacrificed himself to become the “herald” of Galactus, a world-eating villain who used Radd, aka Silver Surfer, as a scout to find new planets ripe for the picking. But Surfer is also much more than that, as his comic book history is incredibly robust, so there’s plenty for someone like McKay to pick from.

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Obviously, the idea of a “Silver Surfer” film isn’t something that seems to be on Marvel Studios’ current agenda. The studio is still just in the early stages of developing a film based on “Fantastic Four,” and you have to assume that will come well before “Silver Surfer.” Though, if McKay is interested, you can assume Kevin Feige is willing to listen.