Silver Surfer: Adam McKay Has Discussed Directing Movie With Marvel

Screen Rant

Adam McKay Has Discussed Directing Silver Surfer Movie With Marvel

By Cooper Hood

Published Jan 10, 2019

Vice director Adam McKay has now discussed helming a Silver Surfer movie with Marvel Studios after previously expressing interest in the character.

Adam McKay has now discussed the possibility of directing a Silver Surfer movie with Marvel Studios. The director is currently in the midst of promoting his latest Oscar-worthy movie Vice, but his interest in joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains strong and may now be a real possibility.

McKay has long been rumored to be on the verge of directing an MCU film, after turning down the Ant-Man gig following Edgar Wright's departure. He did, however, work with Paul Rudd to rewrite the film's script and has since been linked to a handful of MCU gigs. In recent weeks, he's confirmed that Inhumans was on the table before it was turned into a TV series and that Marvel even wanted him to get involved with Spider-Man: Far From Home. Marvel's offers haven't stopped there, as they also approached him about directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - but that isn't the cosmic property he's interested in.

Late last year, McKay revealed that the Marvel movie he most wants to direct is a solo Silver Surfer movie. At the time, his interest was simply him expressing the love he has for Norrin Radd, but MTV asked him if there's been any movement since his comments were spread across the internet. As it turns out, McKay revealed he has since had conversations with Marvel:

There actually has been some discussion about Silver Surfer. My agent certainly woke up. They were excited. We're in the middle of, you know, backing Vice right now, but, who knows, maybe in a couple months it could pop up. I really am excited about that idea. So, we'll see what happens.

For the last several years, Silver Surfer's live-action rights have been tied to 20th Century Fox as part of Marvel selling the rights decades ago. Fox sparingly used the character though, as he only appeared in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, but have also hired Brian K. Vaughn to write a script for a solo movie. However, Disney is now in the closing stages of acquiring the TV and movie assets of Fox, which will see Marvel Studios regain access to hundreds of characters - including Silver Surfer. Marvel Studios' plans for these characters are still unknown, but it appears McKay's interest could help make a Silver Surfer movie more likely.

Silver Surfer is a major cosmic character in Marvel comics, and his addition to the MCU will likely be treated as such by Kevin Feige and everyone involved. McKay's interest in the character is based in the emotional story of a man who has to leave his home in order to save it and become a herald to the world eater Galactus, who is another character McKay has a clear affinity for after a small cameo in Vice. Only time will tell whether or not McKay gets a crack at directing a Silver Surfer movie, but since the character hasn't been done justice on the big screen, Marvel would have the opportunity to make the definitive version of Silver Surfer. It may just be possible that McKay will be just the guy to get the job done.