Shalla-Bal is a legacy character in Silver Surfer lore. She first appeared in Silver Surfer #1 back in 1968 as Norrin Radd's (the original Silver Surfer's) love interest on their homeworld of Zenn-La (where she also happens to rule as Empress). Like most unpowered (yet powerful) female love interests (ie Lois Lane, Mary Jane Watson, Carol Ferris, Pepper Potts, Betty Ross, etc), Shalla has occasionally adopted the abilities and identity of her titular male counterpart. In Shalla's case, this has almost always happened in alternate-universe scenarios or issues of What If. Over the years, she has wielded the Infinity Gauntlet and become (at least) two different Heralds of Galactus. Her specific incarnation as Silver Surfer was in the Earth-X storyline from 2000. Shalla's surprise appearance in the Fantastic Four: First Steps trailer was very exciting for me, but her prescence is also a bit of a potential clue to the plot of the film (don't Google her before the movie if you don't want spoilers). Let's check out Silver Surfer below!
