Donnie Yen and Fans Campaigning For Him to be Cast as Namor for Marvel Studios

With recent rumors increasing about Namor the Submariner getting his own feature film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it was only a matter of time until the fan casting and celebrities throwing their hats in the proverbial pool would kick in; apparently that “time” was just a few hours. Of course, back when Marvel Studios officially got the rights back to Namor last summer, one actor jumped on it immediately, as Brian Tee, who played Shredder in last year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, declared his desire to play the Prince of Atlantis.

“You know what’s funny is my career I’ve kind of played villains, guys with attitude, guys with chips on their shoulders, um, in reading the comics books and being a fan of Namor, that’s kind of this guy’s persona,” Tee told Comicbook.com. “Even though he’s a hero or a quote unquote good guy. He’s kind of a bit of an anti-hero with a bit of an edge, and I feel like I kind of fall in that line, especially with other things that I’ve done. So that’s the kind of aspect that I would love to bring into Namor.”

Well, now he has some competition for this role that’s still technically only hypothetical, as fans of Donnie Yen want him to play the Imperius Rex. Multiple Donnie Yen fansites have been tweeting about the possibility of him as Namor, and Yen seems interested – his official twitter account has been retweeting the requests, which often show side-by-side images of Yen and the character

Donnie Yen is having a breakout year in US cinema, with back-to-back releases in December and January showcasing the action star. First he played Chirrut Îmwe the blind Force monk in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, then took a villainous turn in xXx: Return of Xander Cage.

So will this happen? Well, Marvel casting an Asian actor for Namor would be a great move – they’re sorely lacking in representation, especially of Asian males, and having it be a character like Namor, a bonafide king and superhero, would be pretty cool. As for Namor itself being a movie, the signs are definitely pointing that way, especially the production notice that went out late Thursday night. There are a couple of “Untitled Marvel Studios Film” notices on the schedule from Disney for after Avengers: Infinity War, and Namor could be an inspired choice to fill one of those slots.

More Marvel Movie News:

Is Namor The Sub-Mariner Movie Coming Soon?

Avengers: Infinity War EP Reveals 3 Questions That Dictate Every Marvel Studios Film

Logan Director On Whether He’d Make A X-23 Movie