The following article contains spoilers for Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverThe long-awaited Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sequel is finally here, providing a beautiful sendoff for Chadwick Boseman’s King T’Challa and giving a new sense of power to the princess-turned-queen and queen-turned-Black-Panther, Shuri. Shuri’s journey in the sequel is a hard one, but the future of Wakanda is bright now that they’ve reached an agreement with the people of Talokan. There are tons of familiar faces in Wakanda Forever, but one of the most interesting characters is the newcomer Namor, who fans were excited to meet the second Marvel announced he’d be joining the MCU.
Namor’s mutant status was confirmed long before the movie came out, and the character has quite an extensive history in the Marvel Comics. Often flipping between hero and villain to protect his home, Namor is a complex character who became the villain of Shuri’s story in Wakanda Forever, but has consistently been the hero for his fellow sea-dwellers.
Origins
According to Marvel Comics, Namor became a mutant because his father was a human and his mother was an Atlantean princess. Much like how Wakanda Forever changes the underwater city of Atlantis to the city of Talokan, Namor’s MCU backstory has been altered from the comics.
Namor explains to Shuri in Wakanda Forever that his mother was already pregnant with him before he got his powers. Her decision to ingest the underwater herb created by a vibranium meteor, which is similar to the heart-shaped herb used by the Wakandans, mutated Namor in the womb and gave him special powers.
Conflict
Namor's status as a mutant was a major driving force behind the story of Wakanda Forever, making this film Marvel’s most mutant-focused story yet. Being a mutant gives Namor power over his people, which sets the stage for the film’s major conflict.
Visually, Namor differs from the other people of Talokan, because he doesn't have the same blue skin as them. He also has winged ankles, an extended lifespan, and the ability to breathe both air and water. All of these added abilities and differences were given to him because he mutated in the gestational period, unlike the rest of Talokan’s ancestors who were already adults when they took the herb. If Namor wasn’t a mutant, Talokan wouldn’t perceive him as a god the way they do in Wakanda Forever. There’s a chance the underwater utopia wouldn’t be fighting with the Wakandans.
Namor’s vendetta against the surface world started when he went to bury his mother and witnessed the horrible acts committed by colonizers. He was angry at them for destroying his mother’s homeland, and because the city of Talokan sees him as a god, they took his word that the people on the surface are worth destroying. Talokan then spent years preparing for war at Namor’s command, and willingly stepped into battle against Wakanda when he told them to. All the chaos that ensued in Wakanda Forever, including the death of Queen Ramonda, stem from the fact that the sub-mariner is a mutant.
Final Battle
Namor’s mutant status was also used as a more direct plot point in the film’s final battle, when he and Shuri make their fight more personal. With the help of Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams, Shuri was able to use Namor’s powers against him, when the two discovered he became more powerful by absorbing the oxygen in water before making his attacks on land.
By trapping Namor in an airship and depleting the moisture from the air, and keeping him isolated from water on an island, Shuri was able to weaken Namor enough to make him yield. Being a mutant was his rise to power in Talokan, and simultaneously wound up being his downfall at the hands of Wakanda. Wakanda Forever truly wove his identity into every thread of the movie.
Namor Versus Other Mutants
Other MCU projects have mentioned or included mutants before, such as Ms. Marvel, which ended with a major bomb-drop that Kamala Khan is actually a mutant. However, Wakanda Forever is most definitely the first MCU to truly play into the idea of their characters having mutations.
Kamala found her identity through her family and her heritage, whereas Deadpool almost resents his mutations because of how it negatively affected his life. When comparing other Marvel mutants to Namor, it’s very clear that being a mutant is how he’s defined himself over the centuries. Namor is a special case because being a mutant is framed as part of his actual identity, rather than simply being the reason why he has superhuman abilities. He’s fully embraced his genetic gift and leans into the idea that his powers make him godlike.
The movie hints at his return in the future, so fans will likely get to see more of him as the MCU prepares to start Phase 5. But as far as Phase 4 is concerned, Wakanda Forever is the most mutant-focused project in the MCU to date.