Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Features Surprising Connection Between Namor and Killmonger

Marvel Studios recently wrapped up their Phase 4 slate of projects with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and the film answered plenty of questions. Wakanda Forever introduces us to a few new characters as well as making a returning character the new Black Panther. Riri Williams / Ironheart (Dominique Thorne) and Namor the Submariner (Tenoch Huerta) both appear in the film, with the latter of the bunch being the main antagonists. Every antagonist needs a protagonist and the film finally revealed that Shuri (Letitia Wright) is the new Black Panther and she faced off in an incredible battle with Namor. But before any of that happened, she ate the heart-shaped herb and was sent to the Ancestral Plane. While in the Ancestral Plane Shuri sees someone she never expected to see— Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). It turns out that Namor and Killmonger both had a pretty surprising connection. While speaking with Wakanda Forever: The Offical Black Panther Podcast, Production Designer Hannah Beachler revealed a decision that director Ryan Coogler made about both villains.

“Ryan [Coogler] has this great way when it comes to villains of giving them many names, especially when you’re talking about Indigenous people, because one way, I think, he felt that they keep you in a place, is they never let you settle with a name,” Beachler said. “That’s why Killmonger had many names. And that’s why Namor has so many names as well. But to his people, he’s Ku’kul’kan…”

The next Marvel Studios film to be released will be Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quatumania. Empire Magazine recently had a chat with director Peyton Reed about how the stakes have risen going into Quantumania. “People felt like, Oh, these are fun little palate cleansers after a gigantic Avengers movie,” Reed told the outlet. “For this third one, I said, ‘I don’t want to be the palate cleanser anymore. I want to be the big Avengers movie.’”

“I grew up a real Marvel comics nerd, and there are a handful of antagonists in the Marvel comics universe who are all-timers,” Reed continued. “Loki, obviously. Doctor Doom from the Fantastic Four. And Kang the Conqueror. In conversations with Kevin Feige and Marvel, it was like, I want to put Ant-Man and Wasp up against a really formidable villain in this movie, and so we’re doing Kang the Conqueror.” 

“In the comics, Kang has dominion over time, he’s a time traveler. His situation is a little bit different in this movie, which I won’t spoil for you, but he’s someone who, [while] we live very linear lives, from childhood to death, Kang doesn’t exist that way,” the director smirked. “It struck me as interesting to take the tiniest Avengers — in some people’s minds maybe the least powerful Avengers — and put them up against the most powerful force in the multiverse.”

The studio describes the film as follows: “In the film, which officially kicks off phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought was possible. Jonathan Majors joins the adventure as Kang.”

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania will hit theaters on February 17th!

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