Images via Marvel Studio

‘Black Panther’ diehards battle over the franchise’s best villain: Killmonger or Namor?

Are you team Killmonger or Team Namor?

Erielle Sudario

Published: Nov 13, 2022 07:21 pm

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Marvel fans to a brand new villain, Namor, the king of Talokan. Not only was he a powerful leader, but he caused even greater damage to Wakanda which led its citizens to evacuate. Not to mention, it left the entire nation in the hands of a child. But as people revisit the first film just in time to watch its sequel, fans wondered which one of the two Black Panther villains was the better.

This question was posted on Twitter by @HeroricHollywood and received over 20k likes. Fans gave their valid arguments for each of the two villains. Both Killmonger and Namor have valid reasons as to why they’re both huge threats to Wakanda and Black Panther.

Who’s the better #BlackPanther villain? Erik Killmonger or #Namor? pic.twitter.com/zFLqzzrtyL
— Heroic Hollywood (@heroichollywood) November 12, 2022

Fans on Team Namor believed that he did what had to do as a leader. Queen Ramonda tricked him, and two of his people died because of it. Namor did all he could to protect his people from threats from both the surface world and potential enemies. Also, if you look at the situation from his perspective, it was both Wakanda and the US that provoked Talokan first. Everything he did was self-defense.

yes that's what i thought. namor just naturally did what a leader would do to protect their people. and this might be unpopular opinion, but u can't blame namor for attacking wakanda bcs queen ramonda tricked him first
— Diana Prince (@galgendats) November 13, 2022

Namor wasn't a villain. Wakanda and America were the villains in this film. He had EVERY reason to do what he was doing.
— OMNILEGION (@omnilegion) November 13, 2022

Meanwhile, people on team Killmonger believed that this MCU villain was stronger than Black Panther. Also, his motives to help people of color got him into a position where he was able to be T’Challa during their ritual combat. Not to mention, he wasn’t merciful and got things done and over with. The only flaw in his plan was his execution since it made him look like someone who just want to wage war on the world.

But you can’t argue he wasn’t wrong. Wakanda has the resources to help oppressed people of color like him but they did nothing. You can say his execution was off but his ideologies were genuine and that’s what made him compelling.
— Blue Jay Haley (click the link ⬇️🌟) (@LilUhh1) November 13, 2022

That’s what makes Killmonger the better villain imo. Namor has good intentions while Killmonger just wants to murder people
— Timothy Platte (@tdplatte) November 13, 2022

Killmonger is easily a better villain than Namor, his background story, his motives is more villain-y than Namor. Even Killmonger can't accept T'challa's mercy in the end.
Namor is not a greater villain if compared with Killmonger, but he's still a great written character.
— The Mad Nerd (@rabum_alal_30) November 13, 2022

Erik technically because he stood on more, Namor didn't go ham, he gave them chance to recover and what not, but he is planning for more so we'll see
— HowInTheHalibutDoesAFishTripUnderWater (@Evry1LuvsJodie) November 13, 2022

In the end, fans believed that Namor and Killonger are good villains. Some even went as far as to say that they’re better seen as antagonists. One also pointed out how both Black Panther villains were opposites of each other in terms of motivations. One wanted to exploit vibranium while the other wanted to protect it. In the end, it was Wakanda’s resource that motivated these two characters in the Black Panther films.

What I love is that neither is a true villain, and that they are the perfect antagonist to their respective black panthers. Erik is T'challas foil and equal, and it heightens the tension. Namor and Shuri are like-minded individuals who just want to protect their homeland
— finlay Gilchrist (@Gilchris3Finlay) November 13, 2022

i saw neither as villains. they just had different perspectives/were on different sides with different experiences. both co-protagonists were great and this is why Black Panther and Wakanda Forever worked so well
— Riech ⁷ (@ladyplscalmdown) November 13, 2022

Both have very similar motives. Both want to conquer other countries before they can become a threat to their own. Erik’s secondary motivation of wanting to avenge his father makes him lose control and lose sight of his overall goal but his base philosophy is kinda proven right. pic.twitter.com/2FTBQIn2I0
— Malik 🎴 (@KingKyberrr) November 13, 2022

Would he have? Namor wanted to kill RiRi to prevent people from mining vibranium to keep his people a secret. Killmonger wanted to share vibranium and exploit it.
— Justin Wynn (@JustinN07773200) November 13, 2022

And turns out both minorities are fighting over the same resources instead of standing together…
— E.G.O. (@LeftEyeEGO) November 13, 2022

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now showing in theaters.

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