Who is Namor the Submariner and what role will he play in Wakanda Forever?
In 2008, RDJ’s Iron Man introduced viewers to the ever-expanding world of the Avengers, celestials, AI, galactic peril, and now with X-Men rights transferring back to Disney’s Marvel, even mutants. Since those early days with Mach 1, the MCU has spawned 30 films and 17 original series (with at least 15 series planned in future phases).
But the most anticipated MCU film in 2022 is, without a doubt, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. After the unfortunate and tragic passing of the late Chadwick Boseman in 2020, MCU showrunners were put into the impossible position of replacing the character completely, catapulting another character into the lead role, or recasting Boseman.
Insisting that the T’Challa represents more than the actor, some fans urged Marvel Studios to recast the part. Despite these calls, however, T’Challa won’t be portrayed by a new actor, and the film will deal with his passing. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said, “It just felt like it was much too soon to recast.”
Instead, MCU showrunners decided to give Shuri the job, a significant change we’ll have to reconcile early in the film.
But the teaser for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also serves as a reminder that, in addition to addressing Boseman’s passing in real life and the loss of his character on screen, Wakanda Forever will also be tasked with introducing the MCU’s first mutant anti-hero, Namor the Submariner.
Who is Namor the Submariner?
Since his first appearance in 1939, the King of Atlantis has played the villain, anti-hero, and hero. Namor’s back story goes spans decades. But in most versions, Namor is the mutant son of a human sea captain and a princess of Atlantis.
Because his character has existed for so long, Namor has had many motivations for serving as the story’s protagonist and antagonist. During World War II, Namor formed the superhero team the Invaders, which included Captain America, Bucky, the Human Torch, and Toro in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The team-up led to Namor’s first hostile encounter with Black Panther. However, the adversarial relationship between the two didn’t last, as they ultimately teamed up to track down traitors to the Allied effort during the war.
Namor would later play the anti-hero again and attack New York after an atomic bomb destroyed his city during America’s nuclear weapons tests. It’s during this battle that he first encounters the Fantastic Four.
Over his comics history, Namor has found himself in conflict with land-dwellers over their disregard for life underwater time after time. But he’s never been a “villain,” so to say. Namor may come into conflict with Reed Richard’s team and the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes more than some of the nastiest MCU baddies, but his motivation is always rooted in a desire to protect his underwater realm.
Where does Namor (and everyone else) fit in Wakanda Forever?
The promotion for Wakanda Forever claims that Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) will be collaborating with Black Panther (Letitia Wright) to battle Namor, who appears ready to start a war against the technologically powerful surface nation, even though the reason behind the pair’s dispute is currently unknown. However, given his comic history, while Namor’s motivation for an attack is very likely centered around his desire to protect his people and not conquest, we expect that some reconciliation between his kingdom and Wakanda will take place by the 3rd act, just in time for a bigger baddie (yet to be disclosed).
Some have speculated the real villain in Wakanda Forever could be Erik Killmonger, Victor Von Doom, Evett Ross, M’Baku, or even Justin Hammer (how cool would that be? – or not).
According to the official description, “Namor, monarch of a hidden undersea kingdom,” will inform Wakanda “of a global menace and his unsettling plan to thwart it.” The nature of the threat is unknown as of the time of writing.
Will Namor come in peace and find a nation grieving, unresponsive to his pleas for help? Could T’Challa’s passing cloud the Queen Mother’s judgment, kick-starting an unnecessary and violent conflict between two superpowers in the MCU?
In any case, we’re excited to see how Namor is portrayed and how Wakanda Forever sets the stage for his MCU role in future installments. Stay tuned!