Trivia: According to Box Office Mojo, this film made more money domestically on its opening day than the previous Fantastic Four film did in its entire theatrical run.
Trivia: Several actors from previous Fantastic Four films attended this film's blue carpet premiere, including Ioan Gruffudd and Doug Jones from the Tim Story films, as well as the main cast of the unreleased Roger Corman film from the mid-90s.
Trivia: John Malkovich originally had a role in this film as the Red Ghost, even appearing in the first trailer, but his scenes were cut. The character is still referenced a couple of times in the film.
Trivia: Jon Watts - who directed Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Spider-Man: No Way Home - was originally announced as this film's director before leaving the project in April 2022. The directing duties eventually went to Matt Shakman, who had previously worked with Marvel, having directed all 9 episodes of WandaVision.
Trivia: This film marks the third time that a first Fantastic Four adaptation of a planned franchise was released during the fifth year of a decade. The first to get a theatrical release was directed by Tim Story and released in 2005, being successful enough to warrant a 2007 sequel. The second was the Josh Trank-directed "Fant4stic" in 2015, which ended up being a major box office bomb.
Trivia: The unreleased Roger Corman film from 1994 notwithstanding, this is the first Fantastic Four film in which Johnny Storm is depicted as having comic book-accurate blonde hair.
Trivia: Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who will portray Ben Grimm/The Thing, previously played Microchip in season 1 of the Netflix series The Punisher, which also takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Answer: Shalla-Bal has been in Marvel comics since 1968, and is the Silver Surfer in Marvel continuities like Earth X and What If. Given that the Fantastic Four in this film are clearly from a different continuity from the regular MCU, it makes perfect sense.