Namor the Sub-Mariner was only briefly visible in the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” teaser, but a lot of online buzz has already been made about the fact that he appeared to be engaged in combat with the Black Panther’s homeland of Wakanda. An official statement from the San Diego Comic Con has revealed that Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta (“The Forever Purge”) would portray Namor.
The movie “Wakanda Forever” is scheduled for release in theatres on November 11, 2022, but little is known about the plot because Marvel has never been particularly forthcoming with official press releases (the steady drip of information about Marvel movies is one of the more meticulously crafted marketing triumphs of the modern age). All that is known is that T’Challa has passed away (reflecting the actual loss of “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman), and it is unclear whether another character will step forward to fill his shoes.
Additionally, it appears that Namor’s people from the undersea nation of Talocan are attacking Wakanda rather than just an earthbound military force; there are men with machines guns dressed in fatigues. In the “Wakanda Forever” preview, there are several shots of underwater merpeople, including a baby with wings resembling those of Mercury on his ankles, a few quick shots of that baby growing up amidst scenes of destruction, and then shots of him as an adult standing on the shore in the middle of some sort of conflagration.
Namor will probably play a villain in “Wakanda Forever,” however this is not a guarantee. This theory is based on Namor’s background and personality from the first Marvel Comics, which date all the way back to the company’s inception.
Is Namor a hero or a villain?
Namor is an underwater monster who is half human and half Atlantean, despite what his name implies. He is the ruler of the underwater country and despises land dwellers. Namor’s tendency to only very reluctantly, if at all, accept alliances with surface-dwellers is a recurring characteristic in all of his iterations. He is unpleasant, pompous, and blunt when pointing out injustice. When Namor notices that Mister Fantastic isn’t being the best husband, he aggressively attempts to seduce the married Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four in one infamous story.
Throughout Namor’s comic book career, he would frequently teeter on the edge of villainy, rarely carrying through doomsday schemes in the manner of a villain but frequently operating as a free agent in Marvel Comics, thwarting the efforts of more overtly moral heroes. He aggressively assaulted Earth in one important 1989 Marvel story titled “Atlantis Attacks,” seeking to recapture a stolen Atlantean dragon god. He would assist those who requested it, but only if their reason merited his assistance. In many Marvel comics, it has been implied outright that Namor experiences dramatic mood swings if he is out of the water for an extended period of time, which would explain why he can be such a jerk.
This final component was revealed in the futuristic Marvel series “Earth X” from 1999, which attempted to “fix” a number of the basic contradictions that inevitably arise in a comic book universe with a thousand characters and a 60-year history. If you like to make predictions about the direction the Marvel Cinematic Universe will take, “Earth X” might be worth a look because it also lends some of its core concepts to “Eternals.”
Namor’s comic book origins
One of the very first superhero characters ever produced by the business that would become Marvel Comics was Namor the Sub-Mariner.
Bill Everett, a writer and illustrator, created the Sub-Mariner in 1939 for the unpublished anthology book “Motion Picture Funnies Weekly” #1, which was published by First Funnies, Inc. The eight-page Sub-Mariner story in that book was subsequently expanded to twelve pages for a new comics label, Timely Comics, albeit very few test copies of that comic were ever made (if you have one, call Sotheby’s). The updated Sub-Mariner first appeared in their “Marvel Comics” #1 anthology book from October 1939.
When superheroes as we know them now were just starting to acquire popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, Timely Comics introduced a number of heroes who would go on to become prominent figures and eventually Marvel Comics masthead characters (as the company would begin calling itself in 1961). The Human Torch (later used to refer to a member of the Fantastic Four), Captain America, his sidekick Bucky, Hellcat, and The Vision were some of the characters who made their debuts at an early age. For their 1960s re-debuts, each of these characters would undergo substantial rewriting.
The comics industry underwent significant change in the 1940s and 1950s, and Timely Comics eventually evolved into Atlas Comics before being acquired by the Marvel company that we now know and love. Many characters and teams that Hollywood has been busy making movies about for the past 20 years, such as Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, Iron Man, and countless others, made their fast debuts in the early 1960s. Additionally, the Sub-Mariner made a comeback as the Fantastic Four’s intermittent ally and adversary.
Namor’s superpowers
Namor has an extraordinarily long lifespan (in the comics, the trim 30-year-old swimmer is actually over 100) and has superhuman swimming and flight abilities. Modern comic book writers continue to reference the tiny wings on his ankles since they appear to have been sufficient grounds for his flying in 1939. He can speak to aquatic creatures and persuade them to do his bidding, just like Aquaman, who was created in 1941 and almost certainly stole the Sub-Mariner idea. Namor is very powerful, as is typical with superheroes. plus buff. Namor’s body will be featured on every action figure that is produced.
Earlier versions of the character also had any abilities held by creatures that lived in the ocean; for example, Namor could inflate his body like a puffer fish or throw lightning around like an eel. Unfortunately, he never once threw up his guts to frighten off an intruder like a sea cucumber might. I fail to see why not; it would undoubtedly scare off the typical Joe. Later in life, it appears that these fish capabilities were lost from his repertoire of skills, leaving him with a substantially smaller set of abilities.
The creators of “Wakanda Forever” appear to be approaching the character from a somewhat different perspective in typical MCU manner, incorporating his brashness and righteous anger, but in service of a Black Panther plot and the world the MCU has spent numerous films creating. For the time being, the scope of Namor’s film portrayal can only be speculated. Given the character’s extensive history, the filmmakers will have a tonne of resources to work with.
