Who is Namor and how will Wakanda Forever bring him into the MCU?
With The Sub-Mariner about to make his MCU debut, here's a look at his origin story and what’s been changed for the screen
Film Features Namor
Namor, also known as The Sub-Mariner, is one of Marvel’s oldest comic-book characters, dating back more than 80 years. Yet when he makes his first MCU appearance in the upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it will be the first time he’s ever been portrayed in live action on screen. The honor of this milestone will go to Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta, whose previous work includes The Forever Purge and Narcos: Mexico. He’s also bringing along a couple of other characters from the comics, including Attuma (played by Alex Livinalli) and Namora (played by Mabel Cadena).
What else do we know about the version of Namor we’ll be meeting in the film? And what do you need to know about his comic-book origins? Let’s break it down.
Comparing and contrasting to that other fish guy
Explaining who Namor is to someone who’s never read the comics often comes down to a simplistic comparison: “He’s basically Marvel’s version of Aquaman.” Although Namor’s first appearance in the comics predates Aquaman’s first DC outing by two years, it’s pretty clear who had a better publicist. In some respects, though, that assessment isn’t totally wrong.
Namor’s and Aquaman’s origins in the comics are strikingly similar—both come from Atlantis and have the same parental mix of a royal Atlantean mother and a human father. They share a lot of abilities, too. Although Namor’s powers changed over the years, depending on whoever was writing him, his most consistent abilities were in line with Aquaman’s—superhuman strength, endurance, and agility; breathing, hearing, and seeing acutely underwater; and telepathic communication with sea life.
One thing Namor could usually do that Aquaman can’t is fly. Namor was originally born with wings on his feet, something that’s as unusual for Atlanteans as it is for humans. That’s because Namor is a mutant. He’s often called Marvel’s “first mutant” (by order of appearance, not chronological time), which makes it appropriate that he should be the one to usher in a new age of mutants in the Marvel films. Yes, technically, Ms. Marvel was the first MCU superhero to be associated with a mutation, but she won’t be appearing on the big screen until The Marvels next summer.
A new origin and a cultural makeover
Those similarities to Aquaman may have been one of the reasons the writers of Wakanda Forever went back to the drawing board to create an entirely different background for Namor, rooted in the culture and mythology of ancient Mesoamerica, including the Mayan and Aztec civilizations. He’s no longer a hybrid human from Atlantis but the ruler of an underwater realm called Talokan, based on the Aztec netherworld Tlālōcān. Huerta even learned to speak his lines in Mayan for the film.
Unlike Atlantis, which was depicted in the comics as a real place hidden beneath the ocean, Talokan is a parallel realm, and it seems like it can be reached through any body of water, connected to the ocean or not. This explains how Namor can pop up in Wakanda even though it’s a landlocked country in the middle of the African continent. According to a line delivered by M’Baku in the trailer, “His people do not call him general or king. They call him K’uk’ulkan, the feather serpent god.” From this, we can guess that Namor’s relationship with this deity may parallel Black Panther’s relationship with the cat god Bast.
There are some aspects of the character that have been preserved in this version, though. He still has his pointy ears and winged feet, a mutation that allows him to fly. There may even be some comic references woven through the film, too. There was an arc in the comics that culminated in Namor flooding Wakanda, and we can see scenes of water rushing through its streets in the trailer.
Friends and enemies along for the ride
In the comics, Namor was very protective of his people, and saw outsiders as a threat until proven otherwise. This often put him on the opposite side of heroes who got in his way. Sound familiar? As similar as their philosophies might be, Namor and T’Challa never really got along in the comics (see above about that flooding incident), so it will be interesting to see if that animosity is carried over to the other Wakandans in his absence.
The trailers so far have made it seem like Namor may be an antagonist in the film, but we think that may be a misdirect. While he might arrive in Wakanda ready to rumble, it’s more likely he’ll end up working with the good guys by the end of the film toward a common goal. The inclusion of the character Attuma, Namor’s nemesis in the comics, supports this prediction.
While Namor was usually portrayed as an anti-hero, Attuma was a straight-up villain. He was a warrior from an ousted tribe of Atlanteans and believed he should be the ruler of Atlantis. He also wanted to conquer the surface world and rule that too. Basically, he’s just thirsty for power. Although Namor arrives with Attuma at his side, they may ultimately disagree over how to deal with Wakanda and we could see a rift form that will grow wider by the end of the film, and even carry over into the MCU at large.
The other Talokanian who arrives with Namor in the film is Namora. She’s the one with the amazing feathered headdress in the trailer. She’s more of a wild card, as the two of them have a long and complicated relationship. At various times she’s been Namor’s childhood friend, cousin, and love interest. Marvel could never decide. Like Namor, she was half Atlantean. She was sometimes depicted with blue skin and sometimes pale, but it looks like they are going with blue for the film, so her heritage remains unclear for now. This could be a creative choice intended to set her and Attuma apart from Namor visually, and perhaps thematically as well.
That’s pretty much what we know about Namor so far, but if you want to know more about the film you can check out all the other details we have on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Marvel always likes to save a few surprises for the theater, though, so we’re excited to see what else they have in store.
55 Comments
My assumption is the opening of the movie will be set during the “Snap.” With T’Challa and Shuri both gone. Ramonda and Okoye will be the primary leaders of Wakanda and with no heart-shaped flower there isn’t a new Panther.In the chaos, Namor and his people begin to come to the surface. Likely because of however that chaos is impacting them.There will be some resolution, and then flash forward to post-Snap and now T’Challa is dead (again) and there’s the second reckoning.Now you’ve got Shuri supposedly in line for the throne but also desperate to follow her brother’s legacy and take on the Panther name. All while Namor returns (because whatever deal was struck during the snap is at risk due to T’Challa’s death).The result is Shuri eventually cutting a deal with Bast and taking on the Black Panther mantle through that means rather than through her own tech. Tying her in to the Moon Knight/K’honshu branch of the MCU and likely getting her involved when Hercules comes to Earth looking for Thor.
Ms. Marvel was the first MCU mutant? Someone’s forgetting Charles Xavier showed up in Multiverse of Madness!
Also while Namora’s headdress sure looks feathered and I guess it’s as good a term as any, those are lionfish spines! So super cool!
Xavier’s appearance was on a different Earth, so I am guessing that they have to show up on 616 for it technically count?
They very much fucked up by calling the MCU 616. It literally flies in the face of the numbering concept.
That was my first reaction, but thinking about it, it’d be weirder for every universe to have the same numbering – it’s weird enough that they don’t all call themselves “universe 1”.
The numbers are supposed to be assigned by the folks in Otherworld, not the people in the universes themselves.
Or the mongooses. That’s a good team name
Actually see the comment below, The MCU is 199999, the comics timeline is 616..
Hi, yes, I understand this but in the last Dr. Strange movie, they call the MCU 616.
Did they? hmm that’s odd if Marvel themselves is saying 616 is the mainline comics. I can’t recall the details of that movie so I can only assume you are right.
“Xavier’s appearance was on a different Earth, so I am guessing that they have to show up on 616 for it technically count?”
Why do you think that something is true just because the f*cking AVClub said it is?
Earth 616 is the mainline comics universe. 199999 is the MCU. 1218 is our universe in case you were curious.
Good call, you are right, but the point remains that Prof X didn’t show up on 199999
Fair point. That could have been 616 for all we know. (I don’t remember who was in that scene besides X and Reed, but I don’t think there was anyone there that disqualified it from being the 616 illuminati)
the Illuminati were Earth-838 IIRC
You could very well be correct. I pretty much quit reading comics around 2000 aside from a few arcs that had stuff I liked and authors/artists I enjoy, like Annihilation Wave.The Civil War/Illuminati stuff I know of is mostly just from skimming graphic novels at the library while I was taking my neohew in for tutoring or whatever.
“Huerta even learned to speak his lines in Mayan for the film.”
Everything about this film is making me so proud to see any and all representation of my people.
One of my favorite random Namor appearances was when he popped up in a Spider-Man comic for some reason.
Aunt May remembered how she had a crush on him during World War II and I think she was down to go to the depths even then. Anyway, it is fairly obvious that this ends with the war being orchestra by one of three people – Doom, Kang or Mephisto. And I’m OK with that.
The last image of Phase 1 was Thanos smiling. If Phase 4 ends with something like that, it would make sense.
If Doom is smiling, how would we know?
Oh, there is no way whatsoever they have the stones to keep that mask on him full-time. They’ll have whoever it is – I still hope it’s Nikolaj Coster Waldau – smiling and a mask in the corner.
Oh don’t kid yourself. It’s absolutely gonna be one of those nano-masks that phases on and off. They’re all the rage in the MCU.
Those are so goddamned stupid
Doom does not smile, insolent fool!
Looks like some fabulous underwater disco!
Is the delineation for mutant that they were born with their powers? Because otherwise, what are Spider-man or the Hulks?
Who knows how the MCU will handle it, but in the comics, it’s anyone (human, alien, etc.) with an x-gene. In humans, the x-gene usually results in some mutation/powers around puberty. So it’s about being “born” with a power through weird genetics vs. Spider-Man/Hulk/Fantastic Four (which are considered “mutates.”)
Yeah, even though the comics writers can get very fuzzy with their own terms, “mutant” in Marvel refers to people that have the hereditary X-gene. That can manifest cool powers (control weather) or awful deformities (feathers and a beak), or both (eye beams that you can’t ever turn off) but it’s all stuff that mutants are born with.
Of course, don’t forget that some mutants have latent mutations which are artificially triggered. Still totally different than being bitten by a radioactive spider. (Namely: it happens via retcon to characters who are closely associated with the X-Men, and it would be convenient for copyright reasons to make them mutants, or not.)
in the comics, the distinction is described as Mutant (anyone born with an X-Gene) and Mutate (born human but transformed by some means, usually scientific, like Hulk and Spider-Man). Earlier in the MCU movies they used the term Enhanced infrequently but haven’t really heard that term thrown around since AoU
The MCU had a weird problem around the AoU and Civil War era where they wanted to talk about “enhanced” people or whatever, but then sitting at the table we had Stark, Rhodes, Natasha and Clint including themselves in the conversation around enhanced people, when they were just good at wearing metal suits and spying and archery and stuff. And then they cut to Vision, who can fly and shoot lasers out of his head and phase through buildings, and he has to keep a straight face.
Mutants have always been considered as being born with the X-gene without any outside manipulation (i.e. it was natural selection). Whether or not the X-gene results in a physical trait as well as when they “manifest” their abilities is random, but this “can’t do anything about it” trait is what makes the race/sex/identity discrimination comparisons apt.Other superheroes can get their powers by some outside manipulation, like cosmic rays, gamma radiation, or magic. They sometimes have a choice, sometimes they don’t, in whether they get powers, which in the Marvel universe makes them humans with powers (apparently more accepted by society as whole). Mutants, however, are viewed by other humans as a completely different species that just look like humans.Namor was born with wings on his feet (shown in the trailer), a trait presumably not influenced by anything done to his parents or while in the womb, so he’s a mutant.
in the MCU so far, a mutant is defined as someone born with a mutation, whether visible (Namor) or within their genetic makeup (Ms. Marvel)
They are altered human, in theory. Although that gets murky because there have been times writers have decided that something genetically made Spider-Man and the Hulk react to their radiation a specific way. Whether that counts as the X-gene or not can be debated.Then of course you have Inhumans, who are not mutants but also technically born with the potential to have powers. It all comes down to what a writer and editorial decide at the time
I think it’s like diabetics with a Type 1 and Type 2 dealio.
“the writers of Wakanda Forever went back to the drawing board
to create an entirely different background for Namor, rooted in the
culture and mythology of ancient Mesoamerica, including the Mayan and
Aztec civilizations.”I can’t wait for all the spicy hot/racist “ruined my childhood!” takes this weekend.
I lived for a few years on the Yucatan Peninsula, and all I can say is that this was a brilliant narrative direction to go. The Mayan/Aztec cultures of Mexico are absolutely ripe for this sort of thing – the Mayans especially.
Yeah, I absolutely love this reworking.
The main problem with relating them to the Sub-Mariner is that the Maya had only one city on the coast and the Aztec had zero.
You are late to that (awful) party. The change to his origin has been known for a good long while now.
This reworking of Namor’s origin strikes me as brilliant. Partly because it was necessary to contrast with the DC thing. Aquaman used – and used up – all the hybrid-human and undersea kingdom stuff already. Going fresh to a whole different mythology is a good idea.And yeah, there’s gonna be a ton of whiny, “how come he doesn’t look like the REAL Submariner, a white guy in a Speedo?” I welcome comments like that because as much as I love the MCU, I don’t actually think any of its characters are real.
Spock in a Speedo
I just hope Namor has wings on his feet but it isn’t a deal breaker.
You’ll be happy because in the trailer he’s shown coming in for a landing and his little foot wings are flapping furiously.
I just want to know who these weirdos are that consider Namor their childhood hero.“Oh yeah, I really identify with his incredible arrogance and a wardrobe consistenting entirely of speedos.”
I had never heard of the character before reading this article, but now having Googled him, I’m pretty sure if I had been a closeted gay kid who liked superheros, he would have been a favorite of mine.
Hey, those people have been through a LOT. Look at all the times they were outraged when White British guys played Jesus- oh wait
Right, even though he was my favorite character in my childhood, I’ll be in the opposite camp, because I was thrilled at this shift. Wasn’t sure how they were going to pull it off, but I’m so good with this take.
Didn’t Marvel at some point clarify the “wing-like” appendages aren’t what actually propels him, but some kind of telekinesis? It looks great in the trailer, certainly keeps the iconic look in place, while still being a touch goofy 😀
I honestly like my comic book movies a “touch goofy”
I could imagine them explaining that the wings just help him steer.
He’s a Marvel character in a Marvel movie so his story will be boring, simple, and stupid since Marvel movies are movies for dumb babies that want to be fascists.
He was a warrior from an ousted tribe of Atlanteans and believed he should be the ruler of Atlantis. He also wanted to conquer the surface world and rule that too. So Attuma is basically underwater Killmonger?
No, Attuma’s more like M’Baku, as he’s a barbarian with a “might makes right” ideology. A better counterpart for Killmonger would be either Warlord Krang or Namor’s scheming cousin Prince Byrrah.
He looks like ass
There are certain things that are Namor and can’t be changed without it no longer being Namor. His cultural background isn’t one of them though. It sounds like they’re getting the core stuff right.He’s a half human, half-Atlantean (or Talokan, just a hidden underwater civilization) mutant.
He’s powerful (more powerful in water than out).He has ankle wings and pointy ears.He’s a dick even when doing the right thing.He’s horny on main for Sue Storm.
Could we incorporate the multiple times Prince Namor is quoted as calling the surface people “White Devils” and how creator Bill Everett (a Socialist and ahead-of-his-time Golden Age writer/artist/letterer- Stan Lee did not create Namor btw) has multiple instances of Namor’s “War against the White Man” throughout 1939-1940 stories? Namor was the first anti-hero in comics; flooding Manhattan and getting the electric chair (!!) from the NYPD- he deserves a better summary to showcase just how unusual he was as a character for the beginning of American Comic Books.