Another legacy Marvel character may be about to come bubbling to the surface of the MCU.
A scene early in Avengers: Endgame seems like it could be a hidden tease for the impending
arrival of Namor the Sub-Mariner, one of Marvel's oldest characters.
An anti-hero with an 80-year publication history, Namor has served as both a nemesis and an
ally to a laundry list of iconic Marvel heroes.
Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame to follow, obviously.
Fans have long wondered whether Namor the Sub-Mariner would ever make an appearance
in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Endgame may have actually given us our answer… kind
of.
During the scene in question, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanoff is convening a holographic
council of heroes, who are scattered after the five-year time jump.
One of the participants is Okoye, who appears to be holding Wakanda together in the absence
of the dusted King T'Challa.
She reports seismic activity on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, under the African plate,
which apparently falls under Wakanda's jurisdiction.
When asked by Romanoff how she intends to handle it, Okoye says, "It's an earthquake
under the ocean.
We handle it by not handling it."
At first it seems like a throwaway line, but if we know Marvel, it was included for a purpose
— and we have a couple key pieces of evidence to back up our assertion.
The fact that the disturbance was reported by Okoye is telling, as Wakanda and Atlantis
have a bit of a history in the comics — that is to say, they don't get along, and have
actually gone to war on more than one occasion.
Not only that, in the second issue of the original Infinity Gauntlet miniseries, an
undersea earthquake occurs in the wake of Thanos's snap — and none other than Namor,
the Sub-Mariner, is on hand to investigate.
More importantly than all that, though, is the fact that Marvel Studios is well-known
for "planting seeds" which suggest the possibility of characters that might up come into play
down the line, and this particular seed was not the first one that's been planted in the
MCU concerning Namor.
Way back in 2010's Iron Man 2, there was a scene in which Nick Fury and Tony Stark discussed
tentative plans to scout for the team that would soon become the Avengers.
During their conversation, Fury was referring to a series of holographic screens, many of
which depicted events from the past and the future in the MCU.
But one screen was simply a world map which showed various "hot spots" around the globe
which had garnered the interest of S.H.I.E.L.D., and one of these spots happened to be located…
smack in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Of course, it's almost certain that at the time that particular Easter egg was dropped,
nobody had any idea whether Namor would ever come into play in the MCU.
But the inclusion of Okoye's report in Avengers: Endgame suggests that Marvel Studios might've
kept the character in mind this entire time...and that they may now be prepping us for his formal
introduction.
Speaking of introductions...
Namor first appeared in Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1, a promotional publication handed
out to movie theaters all the way back in April 1939.
This book was, in fact, the very first to ever be published by the company that would
later become Marvel Comics, making Namor not just a legacy character, but the legacy character.
Namor's origin story and characteristics are quite similar to that of DC's Aquaman, who
wouldn't appear until November of 1941.
The half-human son of an Atlantean princess, he's a prince and later king of that underwater
realm whose mistrust of the surface world runs deep.
He's super-strong, super-tough, and — yes — he can also communicate with marine life.
So yeah...in all ways that matter, he's basically the original Aquaman.
But this guy can fly.
"That was the worst pep talk.
Ever."
Given the huge success Warner Bros. saw with Aquaman, it wouldn't be a huge stretch for
Marvel Studios to try and show their superheroic rivals their own take on an undersea adventure.
Meanwhile, with the death of Iron Man, the retirement of Captain America, and the departure
of Thor for space with the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel still needs some action to
go down on earth.
What better character to bring onto the scene than their original superguy, Namor?
Not only that, but Marvel finally has access to the Fantastic Four, now that Disney has
acquired 20th Century Fox.
Considering Namor's deep ties to the FF in the comics, the time might finally be right
for Marvel's undersea king to show the surface world who's boss.
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