



But what he really wants to do is direct comic book movies. Adam McKay started off as an SNL writer before he became Will Ferrell’s finest director; you can blame him for the high quality of the Anchormans, Talladega Nights, The Other Guys, and, of course, Step Brothers. Then he shocked fans by pivoting to the piping mad, not-quite-funny political films The Big Short and the new Dick Cheney biopic Vice.

Now it looks like McKay is planning yet another unexpected career turn. Earlier Thursday it was reported he’d been approached to take over Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by apparently definitely ousted commander James Gunn. Later in the day, as per The Hollywood Reporter, he was heard saying on MTV’s podcast Happy Sad Confused that he’d probably prefer to do a Silver Surfer movie.

“Silver Surfer is the one I want to do, man. I would do anything to do Silver Surfer because, visually, you could do what the Wachowskis did with Speed Racer with the Silver Surfer,” McKay told host Josh Horowitz. “At the same time, there’s a great emotional story in there, man, where Norrin Radd [Silver Surfer] has to make the choice to save his planet. That would be the one, but I think Fox owns the rights … .”

Of course, thanks to the Disney-Fox merger, the Marvel characters once cordoned off in the latter’s version of the Marvel-verse — including the X-Men, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four — might be soon be fraternizing with the likes of Iron Man, Black Widow, and Black Panther. (Venom, alas, is a Sony property. Copyright laws are a pain.) Once he heard the news, McKay said he jumped at the opportunity to do a film about the space-cruising humanoid, bugging the likes of Kevin Feige.

“I think after Dick Cheney and economic collapse, maybe I need a little break,” McKay added.

The Silver Surfer was created by Jack Kirby and first appeared in comics in 1966. He began as a villain — a henchman for the planet devourer Galactus — but evolved into a good guy, albeit one who tended to have his own agenda. Onscreen he’s made only one appearance: In the little-liked 2007 title Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, voiced by Laurence Fishburne.

Should the Silver Surfer movie come to fruition, it wouldn’t be McKay’s first dalliance with the MCU. He’s the one who came up with the scene in the first Ant-Man where Paul Rudd’s superhero battles Anthony Mackie’s Falcon.