A couple of weeks ago a very dumb rumor hit the web, one that said that Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer would feature Doug Jones in a spray-painted leotard and immobile mask in the title role of the surfing alien. It was obvious that this was bullshit, the kind of bullshit that runs rampant on the internet.
Just how much bullshit was it? It was so much bullshit that it’s been announced that Weta Digital will be doing the Silver Surfer, with Doug Jones providing the motion performance for a character who will be created in a computer, just like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Weta “has developed an advanced computer-generated animation process that employs motion-capture techniques updated to add further dimensionality to the liquid-metal hero.” That’s one hell of a leotard.
The article also says that the Surfer’s voice has yet to be cast. I would like to nominate Emo Phillips – I think he can really capture Norrin Radd’s inner angst.