20th Century Fox is going to hold on to those Fantastic Four rights for as long as they can. So despite Disney’s acquisition of their rival studio awaiting approval, Fox will continue to announce Marvel projects.

Take for instance the new Silver Surfer film they have just announced. More on the story below.

THR confirmed the news today. Brian K. Vaughan will pen the script. Silver Surfer is the second Fantastic Four spinoff to be announced since Noah Hawley announced his Doctor Doom project last year. No word on the status of that project, yet.

Vaughan has written for both comics and television. Titles include Runaways, Y: The Last Man, and Saga for comics, and LOST and Under the Dome for TV.

Silver Surfer wasn’t always the intergalactic hero who surfed the cosmos. He was first Norrin Radd, a humanoid being of the Zenn-La, part of an extremely long-lived and technologically advanced utopian planet that was free of crime and diseases. However, when Galactus intended to eat his planet, Radd offered himself as a sacrifice to the planet eater. In turn, Galactus turned him into the Silver Surfer, who would serve as his herald and search for planets for Galactus to consume.

Though the character does share some ties with fellow Marvel heroes, he is recognized for his connections to the Fantastic Four. In fact, it was the Four who helped Surfer rediscover his humanity and rebel against his oppressor.

The Surfer made his major cinematic appearance in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, played by motion-capture by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne. The film hinted at the idea of Galactus appearing in the third Fantastic Four, but due to a poor performance at the box office, the sequel never came to be.

As for any possible storylines, Silver Surfer first debuted in 1966 and has become one of the premiere Marvel heroes. However, because the rights are split across different studios, it possibly narrows down some of the stories that Vaughan can tell. Remember, James Mangold found a way around some of those problems with the “Old Man Logan” storyline and crafted an Academy Award-nominated script for Logan. So it’s possible that Vaughan could find something. Again, it could focus on a solo story arc or it’s just a matter of rewriting characters to fit into whatever film they want to release.

That being said, it looks like Fox is announcing Marvel titles just for the sake of it. Of course, I could be proven wrong and they could be working on the film. And if they are, it’s not clear if the project will be affected if Disney’s acquisition gets approved. But we will keep you posted on any developments should they come in.

[Source: THR]