“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is a landmark for several reasons: it’s the final film in MCU‘s Phase 4; it’s Ryan Coogler‘s first movie since the 2018 film; and this sequel doesn’t star Chadwick Boseman, who passed away in August 2020 when the movie was in development. But Coogler and the “Wakana Forever” cast vowed to make a movie that lives up to the late actor’s legacy. And to do that, they needed a villain Boseman’s T’Challa faced off against countless times in the original Marvel comics: Namor, the Sub-Mariner, a character first introduced in the 1930s.
READ MORE: ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Trailer Teases Namor, Atlantis, Ironheart & More
But Empire reports that Namor’s MCU version is slightly different from his usual brand in the comics. Played by Tenoch Huerta in the upcoming film, Namor remains a leader of an advanced underwater civilization, except in “Wakanda Forever,” it’s Talocan, not Atlantis. Namor remains every bit the arch-nemesis to T’Challa he is in the comics, though. “The contrast between T’Challa and Namor – their characters, and their nations – just leaps off the page,” Coogler said of the comic book runs. “He’s a dream antagonist.”
Huerta, whose previous credits include 2017’s “Tigers Are Not Afraid” and last year’s “The Forever Purge,” also supplied some info on this iteration of Namor. Perhaps most importantly, Huerta claimed that, like in the comics, Namor is a mutant, teasing a cross-over of the “X-Men” into the MCU at some point. The actor also explained the movie’s shift from Namor leading Talocan instead of Atlantis. “You can take Atlantis from Greek myth, or you can adapt from a real culture,” explained Huerta. In “Wakanda Forever,” Namor emerges from the ocean due to T’Challa’s decision to reveal Wakanda to the rest of the world at the end of “Black Panther.” “That decision puts Talocan in jeopardy,” Huerta said. “And Talocan has to take action to protect themselves.”
Coogler originally wanted to plant a reference to Namor in the 2018 film. “Ryan had a pitch for a tag at the end of “Black Panther,”” said Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige. “The camera would push through the palace in Wakanda, and then we’d see wet footprints leading up to the throne.” But while that didn’t happen, Coogler always planned to have Namor be the central adversary in his sequel. Now, after Boseman’s passing in 2020, it’s not a clash between T’Challa and Namor in “Wakanda Forever,” instead it’s Namor versus other Wakandans from the original, including Letitia Wright‘s Shura and Lupita Nyong’o‘s Nakia.
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” may be the most anticipated movie in Phase 4 altogether. So, does Ryan Coogler deliver a sequel that lives up to Chadwick Boseman’s legacy? All signs point to yes, especially with Tenoch Huerta’s Namor driving the plot. The film hits theaters on November 11. Take a look at Huerta as Namor below.
