Concept art from an unrealized Silver Surfer movie from the ’90s starring Ewan McGregor has been revealed by artist Gabriel Hardman.
Before the Silver Surfer graced the silver screen in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, the character was originally going to appear in his own solo film, with Ewan McGregor in contention for the lead role. In a Twitter thread discussing movies he worked on that were never realized, artist Gabriel Hardman brought attention to the film. The project was was going to feature Galactus, who was intended to be portrayed by actor Steven Berkoff.
Hardman also revealed that director Geoffrey Wright was going to bring the Silver Surfer to the big screen and that he wanted Ewan McGregor for the iconic role. The film would have also seen the Silver Surfer in his human form for most of the runtime as VFX at the time would have been quite costly.
SILVER SURFER (1997): Romper Stomper’s Geoffrey was directing. He wanted Ewan McGregor as Surfer and Steven Berkoff as Galactus. Surfer spent most of the movie as a human because vfx would have been too costly then.
— Gabriel Hardman (@gabrielhardman) April 23, 2020
Hardman continued his thread by also revealing some storyboards from Ewan McGregor’s Silver Surfer film.
Here are some boards from the unmade Silver Surfer (1997). I couldn't find much. pic.twitter.com/KafXcaAHiS
— Gabriel Hardman (@gabrielhardman) April 23, 2020
In the storyboards, the character is seen being thrown through a wall by an adversary. It’s unclear who the character is going up against, but the concept art continues to show them in a standoff, implying that a battle is imminent. It definitely would have been interesting to see Ewan McGregor take on the Silver Surfer role, especially considering this film would have come out during the precipice of his peak. McGregor would later go on to play Black Mask in Birds of Prey, receiving great acclaim from both fans and critics.
In the Fantastic Four film from 2007, the character was played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. While the portrayal and design of the character were well received, the project failed to make an impression on critics. Disney currently owns the rights to the character, who will hopefully be introduced one day in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Source: Gabriel Hardman
