Black Panther 2: Marvel’s Kevin Feige on a Namor Movie

Could a Namor the Sub-Mariner movie surface at Marvel Studios? The aquatic anti-hero makes his live-action Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta. Making waves as an antagonist towards the surface world and the African kingdom of Wakanda, the hybrid-mutant Namor is the reigning ruler of the undersea kingdom of Talokan, replacing Atlantis and the Atlanteans of the Marvel comics. Like Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) — who suits up in the Black Panther sequel before returning in Ironheart on Disney+ — Namor could be the next MCU newcomer to headline their own Wakanda Forever spin-off.

“We’ll see,” Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige told Namor cosplayer @namorcosplay about a Namor movie at Wednesday’s Black Panther 2 world premiere. Feige added a Sub-Mariner spin-off “depends on this”: the reaction to Wakanda Forever.

Along with Ironheart, spinning out of the events of Black Panther 2, director Ryan Coogler is developing a second Disney+ spin-off series set within the kingdom of Wakanda. Huerta, best known for roles in Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico and The Forever Purge, has revealed his hopes for the MCU to reveal more about “K’uk’ulkan” and Namor’s culture.

“The mythology around Namor is huge,” Huerta told Total Film magazine. “You can be crazy with all this cultural aspect, and you can create a lot of things with Namor, because they take a fantastic source of stories and mythology and religion and everything. So I hope they decide to keep going with the character, past its own story, or whatever.”

Who Is the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Villain?

One year after the death of King T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), Namor of Talokan surfaces to determine whether Wakanda is an ally — or an enemy. But like his comic book counterpart — who has battled the Fantastic Four and the Avengers almost as many times as he’s fought beside them — Huerta says Namor is more antagonist than villain. 

“This a guy who protects his people, his culture, every meaningful thing in his kingdom,” he told Variety. “From my perspective, everyone around the world can identify with this. I don’t know if he’s a villain or is just a guy trying to protect, whatever the cost, what is important.”

On bringing the Mayan-inspired Talokan to life in Wakanda Forever, Huerta said: “It’s important for people to see themselves in the movies in this way. It was made with a lot of respect for the Mesoamerican culture, especially Mayan culture. It’s the roots of almost everybody in Latin America. We have indigenous roots, Black roots, we have a few white roots, but it’s fantastic to be here and represent this kind of movie and I think Wakanda is the bet place to make it.”

Namor’s Marvel Comics Rights

Introduced in Golden Age, Namor is among the oldest characters in the Marvel Comics canon. So why did it take so long for the Sub-Mariner to surface in the MCU?

Namor was created by Bill Everett for the failed pilot issue of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly, his origin more widely printed in Timely Comics’ Marvel Comics #1 in 1939. A Namor movie wouldn’t go into development until 1998, eventually landing at Hulk studio Universal Pictures in 2001. 

After various attempts to bring Namor to the big screen — including a scrapped post-credits scene ending 2018’s Black Panther — Namor’s screen rights lapsed and eventually returned to Disney-owned Marvel Studios. (Read more about Namor’s journey from the pages of Marvel Comics to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.)

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The Wakanda Forever cast includes Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, DanaiGurira, Angela Bassett, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Winston Duke, MartinFreeman, Dominique Thorne, Florence Kasumba, Michaela Coel, AlexLivanalli, and Mabel Cadena. Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in theaters November 11th.