Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s second trailer gives Marvel fans more of a glimpse into how the sequel will address the untimely death of Black Panther actor Chadwick Boseman, who died of colorectal cancer on Aug. 28, 2020.
The trailer gives viewers a better look at the antihero Namor (Tenoch Huerta), who leads an attack on Wakanda for unknown reasons. Although the Submariner is the ruler of Atlantis in the comics, the MCU has reimagined King Namor as half Talocian and half human, born in the sea near the Yucatan Peninsula and worshipped by the Yucatec Maya people.
Since he has never appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe previously, it is presumed that Talocan has lived in secrecy, similar to the way Wakanda hid its status as a technological superpower until T’Challa revealed it to the United Nation at the end of the 2018 movie.
While the video has already garnered more than 21 million views in four days, there are clues about the movie that you have missed on the first watch.
Baby Namor and those ankle wings
Several shots in the trailer show Namor’s underwater birth. What’s special about baby Namor is the fact that he has the same ankle wings as his adult counterpart, meaning he was born with them, rather than the wings being a technological device.
The wings allow Namor to fly at high speeds, as shown in the trailer. They should also allow him to swim much faster, with the ankle wings acting as rotor blades, propelling him through the water at high velocity.
Kukulkan
M’Baku (Winston Duke) reveals that Namor’s people do not call him general or king, they call him Kukulkan, the feathered serpent god. M’Baku said that killing Namor could risk eternal war. In Mayan culture, Kukulkan is associated with the wind and earthquakes. Okoye (Danai Gurira) mentioned some underwater tremors happening near Africa at the beginning of Avengers: End Game.
The big question is, how does M’Baku know about Namor? It could be that when both T’Challa and Shuri (Leticia Wright) were dusted—along with half the world—during the blip, M’Baku took over the throne of Wakanda. Information regarding Namor could have been kept in archives only assessable by Wakandan leaders.
Chaac
Several times during the trailer, it shows Namor painting a mural of Kukulkan inside a sea cave. If you look closely, to the left of Kukulkan is a painting of Chaac, the elephant god/goddess of the rain. In ancient Mayan history, it’s said that Kukulkan worked side-by-side with Chaac to bring rain to the lands. Kukulkan would fly in front, signaling the upcoming rain.
Broken people
“Only the most broken people can be great leaders,” Namor says in the trailer.
It should be surmised that he considers himself a great leader, which would mean that he has been “broken.” It’s interesting that the cave mural shows both Chaac and Kukulkan, yet Chaac is not seen as a person in the trailer. It would be a long shot, but Chaac could have been Kukulkan’s wife or lover. If he or she died, it would parallel the grief he feels with the grief Wakanda feels after the loss of its ruler and protector.
Possible second suit
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment of the trailer, a possible second Black Panther suit is shown. At 1:29, a person in a Black Panther suit, which looks different from the one revealed at the end of the trailer, can be seen on the right side of the screen.
As Namor prepares to plunge his staff into a console of some kind, the person on the right side of the screen jumps up to stop him. This suit looks to have silver detailing around the chest and abdomen, as well as what could be a green choker around the neck area. It is difficult to tell for certain, but the suit looks like it could be made for Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who often wears the color green as a symbol of her tribe.
This could point to the rumors about Shuri designing suits for herself, Okoye, Nakia, and M’Baku being true, so they can all suit up to battle Namor. Unless, of course, they’re battling Doctor Doom since the Fantastic Four villain is rumored to be making his MCU debut in Wakanda Forever.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will be in theaters Nov. 11. Advanced tickets are on sale now.
Published: Oct 8, 2022 11:27 am