Tenoch Huerta, a renowned Mexican actor, will play Namor ‘the Sub-Mariner’ in the upcoming MCU film Black Panther Wakanda Forever. This, by itself, is already big news. You’re probably thinking that this is a secondary Marvel character, but those who say that couldn’t be more wrong. Namor is not only one of the most important characters of House of Ideas, but he is part of its very foundation. All the questions you may have about this character, who will now have Mayan roots, will be answered below.
Who is Namor ‘the Sub-Mariner’ in the Marvel comics?
Namor is a half Atlantean and half-human man, with pointed ears and a flat head; he was born in 1915 of the forbidden relationship between Princess Fen, daughter of King Thakorr of Atlantis, and the American Captain Leonard McKenzie.
The story goes that Captain McKenzie was on an expedition to the South Pole in his icebreaker, dropping explosive charges. The explosions hit the city of Atlantis and, in response, King Thakorr sent his daughter to exact revenge. Things did not turn out as expected: Fen and McKenzie fell in love and got married at sea. The Atlantean king was sent to rescue the princess and, in the middle of that mission, the American captain ended up dead.
Fen gave birth to Namor, a Caucasian half-breed (in the film it will have Mayan roots), with skin very different from the characteristic Atlantean blue, who can fly thanks to the wings on his feet. He has super strength, is unbeatable underwater, breathes out of the sea, can communicate with all forms of marine life, and, in addition, has telepathic abilities. Because he has a superior healing factor, Namor ages very slowly (which is why he looks so young even though he is over 100 years old). Despite his appearance, he becomes a champion avenger of the Atlanteans and protects the marine realm from the worst threat to them: humans.
Now, some real history
In 1939, while the world was worriedly contemplating the start of the terrible WWII, a character named Namor ‘the Sub-Mariner’ was created as part of the pages of Motion Picture Funnies Weekly #1. That’s right, Namor is not a character born at Marvel, but in an independent publication by artist Bill Everett (also co-creator of Daredevil).
Motion Picture Funnies Weekly black-and-white comics were distributed in theaters, but almost no one bought them, and the publication passed on. There are few copies of that period of Namor that were found in the 1970s. Only from those magazines is that we know more about him.
Everett said that the character was inspired by Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,’ and the name Namor came from writing Roman’s name backward. It’s no joke, Everett once said that, at that time, he used to invent and baptize his characters by writing names he considered “of nobles” backward.
In October ‘39, Bill Everett went to Timely Comics with Namor under his arm and it was there where his adventures really began. That same year Marvel Comics #1 (from which it took its name House of Ideas) was published, featuring the adventures of Human Torch (an android that literally burst into flames) and ‘the Sub-Mariner,’ a prince from the depths of the ocean, who was a sworn enemy of the human race.
The great adventures of Namor
During the 1940s, Namor teams up with the Human Torch to fight the Axis threat (Germany, Japan, and Italy). After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Namor joins the Invaders: a team of heroes formed by Captain America, Bucky, Human Torch, and Toro, another human torch. However, their main objective is to defend the Atlanteans from human pollution and warfare.
As WWII progressed in the real world, the comics lost popularity, and Timely Comics stopped publishing the exploits of its heroes, including Namor. It was not until the 1960s that Stan Lee rescued him to turn him into one of the most emblematic anti-heroes of The Fantastic 4.
His story in the first Marvel family begins when Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm find him living a quiet life in Manhattan. He had lost his memory and was left with only the fury of knowing that his beloved Atlantis disappeared due to human atomic bomb tests. Namor seeks to avenge his people and declare war on humanity, even attempting to invade New York. At this stage of his life, Namor ends up falling madly in love with Sue, the Invisible Woman. She, although she reciprocates a little, is engaged to Mr. Fantastic. Throughout his story, this relationship will blossom several times.
Namor was also the cause of Captain America’s return to the modern era. During a battle against the Hulk, he struck the glacier where the supersoldier was in suspended animation and that allowed The Avengers to rescue him.
Namor gives up his feelings of vengeance against humans, begins to work through the traumas left by WWII, and works to rebuild his undersea nation and govern it intelligently. Over the decades, he has had adventures with almost every Marvel character, but the most frequent has been with the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, and, being considered the first mutant, the X-Men. He helped the mutants build their nation and, when the Dark Phoenix Power split, he was one of the containers. He caused much death and destruction in the world but, as most humans consider him a villain, his status in the Marvel Universe did not change.
Spoiler Alert
Everything seems to indicate that two of Marvel’s greatest nations, Wakanda and Atlantis, will come into conflict because of Vibranium in Black Panther’s sequel. As we have seen in some leaks, everything indicates that Attuma will be one of the main villains of the movie. He is one of the classic Marvel villains, a bearded leader who was expelled from Atlantis and who wants power at all costs. He clashed with Namor and The Fantastic 4 on several occasions.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
