Marvel fans are nervously waiting to see Tenoch Huerta’s Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The MCU Namor will be a big departure from the comics version, who made his debut way back in 1939 and is one of the oldest Marvel characters. Unlike the Atlantean original, the MCU Namor hails from the kingdom of Talocan, which has been created for the movie and takes inspiration from ancient Mayan culture.
What’s interesting is that director Ryan Coogler and Huerta are both at pains to underline that Namor isn’t strictly a villain and more an opposing force to Wakanda. As per Coogler, Namor is “really cool and charismatic, but also arrogant. He’s kind of an asshole, kind of romantic, and just incredibly powerful.”
Now Marvel fans are hoping this will merely be Namor’s introduction to the MCU rather than the totality of his story:
Most fans seem confident that Namor will return, perhaps even in his own solo movie:
But is there really “no risk” of him dying here?
One wrinkle is that – much like the Hulk – the rights to Namor are partly held by Universal, meaning he can’t be the main feature of a movie but rather a supporting character:
Others are theorizing there’s another villain pulling the strings and stoking the fires. This may be longtime Namor villain and nomadic warlord Attuma, or possibly even Doctor Doom:
There’s also the little fact that the MCU is gearing up to introduce The Fantastic Four and with Namor a large player in their stories (famously crushing on Sue Storm) they’re not going to kill him off before meeting them:
Based on all that, we’re confident that the MCU Namor will be sticking around for a while. It seems very likely that the conflict between Wakanda and Talocan will be resolved by the end of the second act, with the finale seeing the two civilizations join forces against a greater foe.
We don’t have to wait too long to find out, as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever roars into theaters on Nov. 11
