Imperius Rex! Who is Namor, the antagonist in 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'?

Namor the Sub-Mariner will be making his long-awaited debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. — Photos: Marvel Comics

The new Black Panther: Wakanda Forever movie opens in cinemas this week, and while most people are eager to see who will be taking over the mantle of Black Panther in the movie, the character I’m most excited for is Namor the Submariner.

Marvel's oldest superhero, Namor makes his debut in the MCU in 'Wakanda Forever', played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta – Photo: Walt Disney Studios Malaysia

You see, Namor – played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta – may only be making his debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but he has been part of the Marvel universe since literally the beginning – he is actually Marvel Comics’ first ever superhero!

While it is easy to frame Namor as the “villain” of Wakanda Forever, chances are Marvel has bigger and longer-term plans for him. After all, Namor’s history goes back all the way to the Golden Age of comics, and is such a huge part of Marvel Comics’ history that it would be careless for them to just treat him like any other generic supervillain.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s take a quick look at the history of Namor, and why his introduction has the potential to be one of the most important events in the history of the MCU.

Original origin

The character was created by the late William Blake “Bill” Everett in 1939 for a giveaway comic book called Motion Picture Funnies Weekly (if the creator’s name sounds familiar, it’s because Everett is also the co-creator of Daredevil, alongside Stan Lee).

Unfortunately, that comic was canned before it was released, but Namor’s story was eventually published by Timely Comics (the precursor to the modern-day Marvel Comics) in October 1939’s Marvel Comics #1, alongside another hero – the original Human Torch, Jim Hammond.

Everett was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, naming his new character the Sub-Mariner after the poem. He also came up with the name “Namor” by spelling the word “Roman” backwards.

Namor’s first appearance was in 1939’s Marvel Comics.

While his popularity faded after WWII ended, Namor would later be reintroduced in the Silver Age, by none other than Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, via the pages of 1962’s Fantastic Four.

At the time, Lee and Kirby decided to pass Namor’s Golden Age adventures off as mere comic book tales, and retconned the Silver Age Namor into a more regal, arrogant and proud ruler of Atlantis. He was even given a catchphrase – “Imperius Rex!” (it means emperor king in Latin, but no one is really sure what Namor means whenever he uses it).

Out of Atlantis

Sure, Namor’s catchphrase sounds cool, but darn if we know what it actually means.

In the comics, Namor was the child of a human ship’s captain named Leonard McKenzie and the Atlantean princess Fen, and named Namor, which supposedly means “Avenging Son”.

Thanks to his hybrid heritage, he gained a myriad of superpowers, including superstrength, the ability to breathe underwater, long life, and even flight, thanks to the wings on his feet (which have been retained for the movie).

In the movie, however, his origins seem to have been changed somewhat. For one, Atlantis is not called Atlantis, but rather, a nation called Talocan (probably to distance itself from DC’s Aquaman, who is already based in Atlantis).

Talocan which is not from any Marvel story, but rather, likely based on Tlalocan, an ancient Aztec city ruled by the rain deity Tlaloc (rain, water... see the connection there?).

The Wakanda Forever trailer also features M’Baku (played by Winston Duke) referring to Namor as “Kukulkan. The Feather Serpent God”, which is a serpent deity worshiped by the ancient Mayans.

Interestingly, Kukulkan has made two appearances in Marvel’s comics before – the first in 1949’s Namora #1 (the solo title of Namor’s SISTER), and then in 1966’s X-Men #25.

X marks the spot

In the comic books, Namor is technically Marvel’s first mutant, in terms of publishing chronology at least.

While there are other mutants who predate him in the Marvel timeline (such as Apocalypse), Namor is the first one acknowledged by both Professor X and Magneto as a mutant (X-Men #6, 1964).

Namor was one of 'The Phoenix Five ' who had been imbued with the power of the Phoenix Force.

Huerta has already confirmed that the MCU Namor is a mutant, which means that there are now two confirmed Mutants in the MCU – Kamala Khan/Ms Marvel and now the Submariner.

The fact that he is a mutant is hugely significant though, especially when seen in the context of the Talocan vs Wakanda feud.

In the 2012 Avengers Vs X-Men (AVX) story arc, Namor was one of the five X-Men imbued with the power of the Phoenix Force, and subsequently called themselves the Phoenix Five.

With their new found power, the Phoenix Five started shaping the world to their will, but the US government is having none of it, and asked the Avengers to stop them.

When Namor finds out that the Avengers are hiding Hope Summers in Wakanda, he decides to lead Atlantis into war against the country. It takes the combined forces of Captain America’s Avengers to take him down eventually, but not before Wakanda suffered a terrible loss.

The trailer for Wakanda Forever seems to imply that Talocan will in fact attack Wakanda. Whether this leads to further revelations about mutantkind or even leads to the first hints of the X-Men remain to be seen, but with Black Panther and Ironheart taking on Namor, at least comic book fans should be thrilled to see a mini-AvX happening on screen.

Namor leads Atlantis into war against Wakanda in 2012’s Avengers Vs X-Men event.

Fantastic ties

Another team Namor is closely connected to is the Fantastic Four, which will also be getting its own MCU movie in 2024, so don’t be surprised if Namor plays a part in that movie as well.

Namor made his Silver Age debut in 1962’s Fantastic Four #4, when Johnny Storm (Fantastic Four’s Human Torch), came across an amnesiac and homeless Namor and helped him recover his memory.

Once he did, the Submariner immediately assumed that the surface world was responsible for the apparent destruction of Atlantis, and this formed the basis of his subsequent skirmishes with the Fantastic Four, among other superheroes.

Another connection Namor has with the FF is his infatuation with Sue “Invisible Woman” Storm – he has been holding a torch for Sue since the first Fantastic Four Annual (circa 1963), but despite her obvious attraction to him as well, her engagement to Reed Richards meant his love was never requited. This didn’t stop him from pursuing her for decades though, despite him also having other flings as well, notably with Emma Frost of the X-Men!

Stop running away with Sue Storm, Namor!

Potential teams

With more and more superteams showing up in the MCU (Avengers, Thunderbolts, Defenders, Fantastic Four, and potentially the Midnight Suns and X-Men), don’t be surprised if Namor ends up joining one of them.

After all, he has been a part of numerous teams in the comics before, starting with the Golden Age’s the All-Winners Squad, the Invaders, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, the Defenders (alongside Doctor Strange and Hulk), the X-Men, Dark X-Men, The Order, Heroes For Hire, Oracle Inc, Deep Six, and even the Illuminati!

And he doesn’t just team-up with heroes – Namor has been known to work with villains such as Doctor Doom and Magneto in the past. He was also part of Norman Osborn’s Cabal, a sort of Dark Illuminati formed in the aftermath of the Secret Invasion story.

Namor’s egotistical and aggressive demeanour also means he has a tendency to get on the bad side of many heroes, so it should be interesting to see if the MCU version stays true to this aspect of his personality. For now, we’re just happy to finally see the Submariner get his big screen dues at long last. Imperius Rex!