In superhero movies, the bad guy always loses, right?
Well, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" flips the script on that a bit.
Here's how Namor comes away with a victory of sorts.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Namor has a significantly different origin story in "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"
than he does in the comics.
One of his many MCU names is "K'uk'ulkan," which is also the name of a feathered serpent
god in Mesoamerican mythology.
"They call him K'uk'ulkan, the feather serpent god."
Instead of ruling Atlantis, he rules over Talokan, a hybrid of Atlantis from the comics
and Aztec myth's Tlalocan, the level of the afterlife reserved for those who died water-related deaths.
With these changes, Marvel could avoid confusion with the DC Universe's Atlantis and had a
chance to create a rich backstory for yet another culture that, like Wakanda, was founded
by people of color and flourished into a highly advanced society.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, actor Tenoch Huerta talked about what it meant
to him to be playing a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has darker skin.
He said,
In the comics, Namor is the son of an English explorer and Princess Fen of Atlantis.
He has none of the Mesoamerican origins that he has in the movie.
But one element from the comics that persists is Namor's shifting allegiances depending
on what best suits his ends.
At the end of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Shuri defeats Namor, but takes mercy on him,
offering to let him yield.
He does so, and the two fly back to their warriors together, demonstrating the truce.
Later, Namor reveals to Namora that he believes the surface world will come for Wakanda to
take their vibranium, and when that happens, Wakanda will look to Talokan as an ally.
"I need to know if Wakanda is an ally or an enemy."
This is basically what Namor wanted from the beginning.
The king originally went to war with Wakanda because they refused to turn over Riri Williams,
the young scientist who built the vibranium-detecting apparatus, nor would they agree to go to war
with him against the surface world.
Yet this truce signifies that they may be willing to align with Talokan in the future,
should they ever find themselves under attack.
Time Magazine has stated that Namor will be returning, though they seem to be basing this
more on the position that Namor finds himself in at the end of the movie rather than any
official announcement from Marvel.
It definitely does seem like we'll be seeing more of the character, and that he'll be as
opportunistic as his comics counterpart.
Namor made his comics debut in 1939 in "Motion Picture Funnies Weekly" #1.
In his first appearance, Namor viciously attacks the crew of a salvage vessel trying to bring
up lost treasure.
This is followed by Namor's mother telling him the story of why they don't trust surface-dwellers:
Some of them attacked Atlantis and killed many of their people.
So even in his brutal first appearance, Namor's actions can be justified as defending his nation.
Namor often switches sides between heroes and villains and never really settles down
as one or the other.
In 1964's "X-Men" #6, Magneto tries to get Namor to join his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants,
but Namor quickly becomes disenchanted with Magneto's leadership and turns on him.
In "Dark Avengers" #8, Namor joins the X-Men.
But even in his time as a member of a superhero team, Namor is morally ambiguous.
In "Avengers vs. X-Men" #8, Namor floods Wakanda during a conflict with the Avengers, in defiance
of direct orders from Cyclops.
That scene was clearly an inspiration for one of Namor's more malicious acts in "Wakanda Forever."
It's hard to call the MCU's version of Namor good or evil, either.
He does some extreme things, but in the name of protecting his nation from a legitimate
threat from the people of the surface.
His actions put him on a similar level of moral ambiguity to some other MCU villains
like Ghost or Killmonger; they all have justified ends from their perspective, but do immoral
things to achieve them.
With the movie leaving the door open for Namor to return, it's possible he'll return as an
antihero rather than a full-on antagonist.