Silver Surfer (TV series)

Overview

Blending cel and computer animation, the series is rendered in the style of Silver Surfer co-creator Jack Kirby.

While inspired by various Silver Surfer comic book stories, the series alters the original mythos in some key ways. The most notable change is the removal of the Fantastic Four from The Galactus Trilogy, the story that serves as the foundation for the first three episodes of the series. In this version, the Silver Surfer, who has had the memories of Norrin Radd partially restored to him by Thanos, protects Earth from the hunger of Galactus because it reminds him of Zenn-La.

Many other characters from Marvel's cosmic stable appear in the series, including The Watcher, Ego the Living Planet, Pip the Troll, Drax the Destroyer, and Adam Warlock. Most of the characters featured in the series differ from their printed-page incarnations. For instance, Adam Warlock is an alien supersoldier designed to fight the Kree and, due to Fox broadcast standards, Thanos serves Lady Chaos rather than Death.

The series utilizes a serialized storytelling approach. As with many Silver Surfer comic book stories, episodes tackle a range of social and political issues, including imperialism, slavery, non-violence, and environmental degradation.

The series was cancelled after one season. Eight episodes were written for the second season before production was shut down. According to series creator Larry Brody, the cancellation was the result of a legal dispute between Marvel and Saban Entertainment.

Critical reception

Some viewers praise the series for its stylish and intricate mix of animation, as well as for evoking Jack Kirby's designs.

Cast

Pip the Troll is the close companion of Silver Surfer, whom he follows on his quest to find Surfer's treasured homeworld Zenn-La.

In "The Planet of Dr. Moreaux", the Kree enslaved the Silver Surfer and had him work alongside Pip the Troll's kind until they revolted and escaped. In "The Forever War", Adam Warlock is seen fighting the Kree in a space anomaly when the Supreme Intelligence sends the Silver Surfer to get him. If there was a Season Two, an episode called "Rebirth" would have the Silver Surfer trying to stop the Kree-Skrull War.

Beta Ray Bill debuts in the episode "Innervisions", voiced by Karl Pruner. This version of the character along with the rest of his species shared a group dream using a special "dream weaver" from Zenn-La. When the Surfer came to alert them that Thanos was approaching, he convinced Beta Ray Bill to end the group dream and save the planet using all of the dream weaver's power to trick Thanos into believing he had succeeded in destroying the planet.

In this version, Nova's a mutant with the power to find anything she seeks. She is given her herald powers by Galactus when he chooses her as his herald in place of the Silver Surfer. She also mentions that her name is Frankie Raye.

Gamora is featured in the episode "Radical Justice".

Nebula appears in the two-part episode "Learning Curve" voiced by Jennifer Dale. Nebula, like many before her, wants to gain knowledge from the Universal Library (Home of the Watchers). Because the motive of her search for knowledge is greed, she devolves into a creature known as a viral (a blob-like creature full of knowledge, but unable to act on it). The Silver Surfer needs help from the virals in order to penetrate a force field covering Zenn-La. After doing so, the Surfer has to help Zenn-La leave a dimension belonging to a being known as The Soul Hunter. During the escape, the Silver Surfer fails to save Shalla-Bal, for which he blames Nebula. He starts to blast her, but she is protected by Thanos' energy field (in the new history of the universe, Thanos is a peace seeker and resident of Zenn-La). One of the energy blasts penetrates the field, restoring Nebula to her humanoid form, and she takes her leave. Her final scripted appearance has her attempting a journey to Galactus' ship, because of the knowledge she recalled from her time as a viral. Unfortunately, no further scripts were written to explain this. Like many characters, Nebula was to make another appearance on the second season of the series. Eight episode scripts were written, but were never produced.

Mentor also appears in the episode "Learning Curve". He is Thanos' brother, rather than Starfox, due to a typographical error in the script. Drax also appears in the episode "Learning Curve". He is an android and a companion of Mentor.

DVD releases

In the U.K. the complete series on two discs were to be released by Liberation Entertainment on July 28, 2008; however, because of the closure of the U.K. division of Liberation Entertainment, the release was cancelled. The rights have now been picked up by Clear Vision LTD who released the set on May 11, 2009.