The role of Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was planned for years by director Ryan Coogler, because he even called the character a moron.
The role of Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was planned for years by director Ryan Coogler, reveals producer Nate Moore. In light of Chadwick Boseman’s death, Black Panther the sequel begins after T’Challa’s death as the kingdom of Wakanda still mourns the loss of their king. Now that T’Challa is gone, Wakanda forever shifts focus to the women of Wakanda, including Letitia Wright’s Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o’s Nakia, Danai Gurira’s Okoye, and Angela Bassett’s Ramonda. Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, the genius inventor who builds armor similar to Tony Stark’s, will also be recruited into Wakanda in the sequel.
Meanwhile, in the wake of T’Challa’s death, Wakanda’s new leaders must defend their nation from invading forces led by Namor, played by Narcos: Mexico‘s Tenoch Huerta in his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Namor the Sub-Mariner is the king of the hidden undersea nation of Talokan, which resembles Atlantis in the MCU. In the sequel, Namor is deeply interested in the surface world after T’Challa reveals the truth about Wakanda to the public during Black Panthermid credit scene. Since then, Coogler has been planning to introduce Namor to the MCU.
During a recent interview with slash movie, Nate Moore was asked if Namor would always be the villain of the sequel. The Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer revealed that Coogler had been planning the introduction of the Sub-Mariner since 2018 Black Panther was in early post-production, and the director even called out dibs on the character. Read what Moore shared below:
Ryan is a big fan of comic books and at publishing houses Namor and Atlantis often came into conflict with Wakanda and the Black Panther. And so already in post-production of the first film, he said, ‘If we’re lucky, maybe we can raise my hand and make sure no one uses Namor?’ And luckily no one was, and he had a great idea for it very early on. So we started building towards that idea, which I really like.
Why Ryan Coogler Wanted Namor in Black Panther 2
Coogler is a huge comic book fan, and in the source material, Namor and Atlantis often clash with Wakanda and the Black Panther, making the Sub-Mariner a logical villain for the sequel. in Namur, Wakanda forever also has an adversary that the public can easily empathize with, as it seems his primary motive is to defend Talokan from foreign threats, just like the people of Wakanda. In this way, Namor is a three-dimensional villain that resembles: Black Panther‘s Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), who has been praised for his well-developed backstory and sympathetic motifs.
With Namor, Coogler has a great chance to recapture the essence of Killmonger for the sequel. The character’s unique power set and features, including his ankle wings and pointy ears, were also a major selling point for Coogler, who should look like nothing else on screen. Of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever early comments praising the sequel for how Namor was introduced, only time will tell if the Marvel villain is as acclaimed as Killmonger.
Source: slash movie
