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Youre not gonna win this one. "Actual hardcore Fantastic Four fans...". Brah, I was literally just at San Diego Comic con and large group of us went to the movie. Nobody wanted this change and one of the big complaints was how hardcore Surfer fans have never actually gotten to see Norrin Radd in anything except 1 crap movie. Shalla Bal as SS is a completely meaningless character that existed for like 10 panels 40 years ago, in a story that wasnt even about her. Shes practically a "What if...." character. A cameo appearance at best.
I give me buddy crap all the time because hes literally the biggest SS fan I know and I think hes kind of a stupid character. Dont even get him started on how much better Norrin Radd would be.
Also, there were no less than half a dozen Silver Surfer cosplays that I saw throughout the weekend. SS generally isnt one of the more popular costumes. Literally zero of them were Shall-bal. C'mon, man. This was a gender swap just because. If they wanted to go with the "love angle" via Human Torch, it would have made far more sense to have it be Nova (the fire version).
Gotta think about the long game. This take would make more sense if this was a one off movie and we didn't have an MCU.
They have been talking about and planning how to introduce the F4, Galactus, SS, and all the cosmic stuff for years now.
Setting up the story in this way does have purpose because it only adds to Norrin's eventual storyline, making him a deeper character without having to do a whole bunch of exposition on camera about what it means to be a herald of Galactus. I could foresee some kind of storyline where Shalla goes back to her home planet in the 616 universe, finds Norrin, falls in love, and then Galactus shows up to punish her by making Norrin the new SS. Whatever they do going forward is going to feed into his story.
Marvel is clearly planning on being here for the long haul so there is no rush to bring every major player out in one movie. Shalla Bal is a nothing character in the comics, but she fit in perfectly for this movie.