The much-anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrived this past weekend, becoming an instant critical and commercial success. Following the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman, critics praised Wakanda Forever's emotional impact and significance. The story and third act received some criticism, but even the film's few detractors agree that Tenoch Huerta's antagonistic Namor is a shining star.
Namor has been around since the Golden Age of Comic Books, which many mainstream viewers may not be aware of. We're not talking about the 1960s or even the 1950s here, but rather 1939, when Namor the Submariner debuted alongside Captain America and the original Human Torch as one of Timely Comics' — the predecessor to Marvel Comics — leading figures. Namor has been a hero, a villain, and everything in between over the course of decades of semi-continuous history.
He can be a cool and suave antihero who makes Sue Storm weak in the knees, or a short-tempered and raging conqueror seeking vengeance for any perceived slight. Throughout it all, Namor has remained a fascinating and compelling figure, the first antihero in comic book history and one of the figures who literally built Marvel.
But Namor is presented in Wakanda Forever in a significantly altered form. The descendants of a Mexican tribe, Talokan, and Namor, transform the kingdom of Atlantis into something with Mayan influences. It's a brilliant pair of decisions that successfully set Namor apart from other Atlantean aquatic superheroes and represents a significant improvement in representation. The first significant indigenous Latino antagonist in a comic book film is Huerta, who was born in the notorious and derided Mexican municipality of Ecatepec. Huerta ostensibly plays one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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