Contains spoilers for “The Fantastic Four: First Steps”

For a certain subset of the internet, gender-swapping a character is the equivalent of spitting in the faces of loyal fans and dancing on their loved ones’ graves. So, as one can imagine, the announcement that Julia Garner was playing a female version of the Silver Surfer in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” was met with some … trepidation, to put it lightly. Garner herself admitted to Deadline to being a little confused when director Matt Shakman wanted her for the role, saying, “I was confused because I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t the Silver Surfer a man?’ I was just like, ‘Okay, well, I’ll play anything.'”

To be fair, Marvel has had several female Silver Surfers over the years. Plus, this version, Shalla-Bal, is linked to the first Silver Surfer, Norrin Radd, as he originally agreed to become Galactus’ herald to save her and their planet. She takes on the role instead of Norrin in this iteration, but, to be honest, it doesn’t matter that much to the film’s story. And, since “Fantastic Four: First Steps” occurs on Earth-828, whereas most of the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe takes place on Earth-616, there’s still leeway for Norrin Radd to enter the MCU within the Sacred Timeline should Marvel decide to go that route.

But after watching “First Steps,” it’s clear that there really was no other choice than for Silver Surfer to be a woman in this particular story in order to drive home the film’s themes of motherhood and the lengths parents will go to in order to protect their children. 

Motherhood is at the heart of “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” The movie opens with a scene of Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) presenting a positive pregnancy test to her husband, Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal). Galactus (Ralph Ineson) notes Sue’s pregnancy when the Fantastic Four try to negotiate with him, and in exchange for sparing Earth, he demands that the FF give him Franklin, as he senses a tremendous amount of power within the baby. He wants Franklin to become his successor, to free him of the endless hunger that forces him to devour entire planets. Of course, the team refuses, and Sue later gives birth to Franklin inside the team’s spaceship as they’re returning to Earth.

The population at large gets angry at the Fantastic Four for putting the planet in peril when they could simply surrender Franklin to save everyone. But Sue can’t do that. Even when Reed admits he considered it as a terrible possibility, Sue remains steadfast in her belief that they must find a way to protect both their child and the world. Similarly, we learn Shalla-Bal was offered another perverse deal by Galactus; she would become his herald, and he would spare her planet of Zenn-La and her child.

Both women obviously feel a duty to protect their children, but they’ve gone about it in different ways. Shalla-Bal saves her child and people by dooming countless other planets. Sue could save Earth by surrendering Franklin to Galactus, a situation where her son would eventually adopt his hunger and eat numerous worlds, too. The kids are saved in both cases, but as a result, the mothers have doomed so many other women, men, and children. The realization of what Shalla-Bal has been complicit in makes her abandon her role as Galactus’ herald and help the Fantastic Four send him far away from Earth, atoning for her sins.

In the lead-up to the film’s release, Vanessa Kirby spoke about the complexity of Sue Storm’s character, telling People, “She was absolutely a mother, and of course, in the comics, that’s so definitively her. But she’s also been a team member that defends, that goes up against great threats.” Every familial situation is different, but it often seems like the bar is higher for mothers compared to fathers. Dads can often be called “great” by simply showing up and doing just above the bare minimum, whereas many women have to be great moms on top of being cooks, housekeepers, and whatever they do for a career. Reed Richards can get away with saying he at least mulled over the prospect of handing Franklin over to Galactus, but if Sue had said that, would audiences have forgiven her?

Kirby’s statement highlights how mothers are expected to be not only a provider and protector to their children but also everyone else. Sue could’ve saved the world by offering her son, but there’s no way she could’ve lived with herself. Not only would she lose a son, but he would then become the devourer of worlds. Shalla-Bal didn’t have such considerations. She saved her daughter but sentenced so many others to death, and that number undoubtedly includes plenty of mothers and children hugging each other as they prepared for the end.

Truth be told, there probably wasn’t much Shalla-Bal could’ve done, pre-Silver Surfer transformation, to save her daughter. But when reminded of her motherhood and the worlds she helped destroy, she did the right thing in the end. There’s good reason for Galactus to fear the Silver Surfer, but more than anything, Galactus should never underestimate the power of mothers.