The next classic Marvel cartoon to get the X-Men ‘97 treatment shouldn’t be Spider-Man

Lasting just 13 episodes, Silver Surfer debuted on Fox Kids in Feb. 1998. By mid-May, it had exhausted its episodes and was banished from Saturday mornings like Galactus banished Zenn-La to the far reaches of the universe. (I encourage you to watch the cartoon if you’d like to understand that reference.) Silver Surfer was developed by television veteran Larry Brody, who’d previously written on dozens of dramas beginning in the 1970s, as well as some cartoons, including a few episodes of the aforementioned Spider-Man: The Animated Series.

The series began with the Silver Surfer’s origin story as Norrin Radd, a noble resident of the planet of Zenn-La who agrees to become the herald of Galactus if the planet-eater promises to spare his planet from destruction. The opening trio of episodes also tells the story of Silver Surfer coming to Earth, being convinced to fight for it, and betraying Galactus. Unfortunately, the Fantastic Four were edited out of this story, presumably for rights issues, and they feel very conspicuously absent. Besides that, these episodes come off as a bit rote given the fact that the Silver Surfer’s origins have been told many times by 2026, though back in 1998, it probably was necessary to reintroduce the character.

From episode four onward, however, the Silver Surfer becomes a lonely wanderer searching for his homeland, which Galactus had hidden from him. Along the way, he travels to different planets, getting pulled into all kinds of stories and conflicts. To make a comparison, Silver Surfer was a bit like The Mandalorian and Samurai Jack, or to go back even further, like so many westerns and japanese ronin films about a lone, lost warrior who travels from town to town. What makes this extra fun in the Marvel universe is that each planet is populated with familiar faces that the MCU has only really explored in the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel films.

We meet the Kree and the Skrull as the Silver Surfer gets pulled into their centuries-long conflict. The Surfer met allies like Drax, Adam Warlock, the Watcher and Beta Ray Bill, while he also squared off with villains like Ego, Thanos, and his daughters Nebula and Gamora. It’s especially interesting to see these characters before James Gunn put his distinctive imprint on them — while I enjoy, and even prefer, Gunn’s take on these characters, many of them were very different before his Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

None of that would work, however, without a strong lead, and the Silver Surfer delivers. Voiced by Canadian actor Paul Essiembre, the Silver Surfer is the stoic, near god-like being he usually is, but his search for Zenn-La instills him with enough empathy and yearning to be relatable.

As good as the storytelling may be, it’s the visuals that made, and make, Silver Surfer standout. The show features an interesting mix of traditional 2D animation and cel-shaded 3D animation. While the titular character always appears in 2D, Galactus is always depicted in 3D, as are many mechanical objects like spaceships. While some of the 3D animation has aged, it was revolutionary in its day and still really interesting to look at. The contrast between 2D and 3D is stark and often obvious, but always well thought out.

Whether in 2D or 3D, it’s clear Silver Surfer was a Saturday morning love letter to formative Marvel artist and Silver Surfer creator Jack Kirby. In the series, the Silver Surfer looks pretty much exactly as Kirby drew him, in stark white with blue and black shadows for detail. Other characters like Thanos and Galactus are clearly based on Kirby’s work as well, if a bit simplified for TV. However, it’s the environments, particularly the depiction of outer space, that shout “Jack Kirby!” most of all as the iconic “Kirby Krackle” is rendered just as it was in Kirby’s cosmic stories for Marvel comics.

Image: Marvel

Ideally, Kirby’s look for the character — and for outer space — could be carried into a modern reboot done with a similar blend of 2D and 3D animation, though just 3D is probably more likely and that would be fine too. Both Spider-Verse films have featured Jack Kirby-related elements and could provide a bit of the framework for how his art should look in three dimensions (even if the budget would be way smaller).

While a direct reboot would likely make sense in its own, new universe, seeing the Silver Surfer explored in the established Marvel Cinematic Universe might be interesting, too (especially if it could explore the universe in a similar way the What If? cartoon does, but without the eventually tiresome premise of having to remix an MCU moment every episode). Hell, the cel-shaded artwork of What If?, while not Kirby-inspired, might even work for a Silver Surfer show. While the What If? animation often seemed a bit lifeless, the cosmic stuff looked good and would suit Silver Surfer.

Plus, Marvel would finally satisfy that part of the fanbase that got all bent out of shape over the use of Shalla-Bal, the female Silver Surfer, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. While I personally thought her substitution for Norrin Radd was a good change that helped motivate a horny Johnny Storm’s story in the 2025 film, now that she’s on the far end of a universe that we presumably won’t be spending a ton more time in, I wouldn’t mind seeing a Norrin Radd Silver Surfer finally arrive in the MCU, either on the big screen in live-action or on streaming as a 2D-animated space wanderer.