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Directed by: Tim Story
Written by: Don Payne and Mark Frost
Starring: Ioan Gruffudd , Jessica Alba , Chris Evans , Michael Chiklis , and Laurence Fishburne
Sequel to: Fantastic Four (2005)

Hype: Trailers and promos for this flick have been circulating for what feels like forever, and the marketing has ranged from life-size Silver Surfer statues at cinemas, to a fiasco involving promotional coins. Hype is, needless to say, incredibly high.

Expectations: Spider-Man 3 was relatively disappointing, and this could either be the first great super-hero flick of the year, or a clear sign that it’s going to be a long, dismal summer.
While the first Fantastic Four movie wan’t exactly a raging success, they did get the overall ‘feel’ right, and the characters were overall well cast and performed. I had issues with Michael Chiklis and his less-than-impressive prosthetics, but it did leave some room for some further mutation.

Recommended *BEFORE* flicks: Fantastic Four , Matrix Reloaded , The Tick:Alone Together

Recommended *AFTER* flicks: Spider-Man 2 , X2:X-Men United , The Donner Cut of Superman II

Comic Origin: Sacrificing himself to save his home-planet of Zenn-La, Norrin Radd offers himself into the servitude of Galactus as herald to scout out planets for Galactus to consume. Transformed by Galactus into the silver skinned, cosmic-power wielding surfboard rider, he would look for nutrient rich worlds, preferably devoid of sentient life, for Galactus to devour. After years of servitude, and subtle manipulations of his mind by Galactus, Surfer begins to lose both his memories and his morals, caring less and less about the consumption of sentient life. Silver Surfer ultimately finds Earth, and heralds the coming of his master and eventually stands off against the Fantastic Four. Alicia Masters confronts the Silver Surfer and explains to him the virtues and value of Earth and it’s inhabitants. With his mind re-awakened, Surfer helps the FF fend off his master until Reed Richards and Uatu the Watcher can procure the Ultimate Nullifier to force Galactus to withdraw. As punishment, Galactus forces Surfer to remain on earth.
Read more at the Marvel Database Wiki

Media History: In 1967, Hanna-Barbera Productions launched two Marvel-based cartoon programs, the classic Spider-Man series, and a series based on the Fantastic Four. In an episode entitled ‘Galactus’ they introduce the Silver Surfer, with a relatively similar origin story that appeared in the comics.

Download Link - Galactus Part One
Download Link - Galactus Part Two

He next made an appearance in 1994 with the Fantastic Four as part of the Marvel Action Hour:

Download Link - Marvel Action Hour Intro

Also in 1994, a group of students did some very early CGI work and created a short film of the Silver Surfer…

Download Link - Silver Surfer 1994

In 1998, Fox launched a new cartoon series, you guessed it, The Silver Surfer, hoping for the same success as the other two Marvel-based cartoons, Spider-Man (1994-1998) and the X-Men (1992-1997). Despite some early blending of traditional and computer animation, the show only lasted one season of 13 episodes. This is one of the few iterations of the Silver Surfer that did not involve the Fantastic Four.

Download Link - Silver Surfer 1998

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer marks the theatrical debut of Norrin Radd.

Bottom Line: I’m definitely going to see this one in the theatre, I haven’t heard anything about an advance screening, so it’ll probably be the opening weekend.