Black Panther: Wakanda Forever spoilers ahead The end of Namor (Tenoch Huerta) in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever steers clear of a problem that frequently arises with MCU villains. Following King T'Challa's passing, Wakanda is threatened by both the governments of the world and the underwater kingdom of Talokan in the Black Panther sequel (Chadwick Boseman). But unlike many of his evil forebears, Namor makes it to the end credits and even manages to negotiate a shaky truce with Wakanda, positioning him as a potential friend rather than an enemy in subsequent films. It can be problematic because villains in the MCU hardly ever make it to the end credits of the movies they appear in.
For instance, Christian Bale's terrible and intriguing new villain for the MCU, Gorr the God Butcher, has a character journey that could only go in one path. Due to their status as the main antagonist of their respective Phases, Avengers movie villains Kang, Loki, and Thanos have all managed to survive many appearances. Other villains, on the other hand, frequently only receive a single appearance, which makes it challenging for the characters to leave a lasting impact once the credits have rolled. Fortunately, Namor avoids this problem in Wakanda Forever by being one of the MCU's strongest villains so yet.
The Motives Behind Namor's Greatness As A Villain In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Wakanda Forever effectively becomes an origin narrative for the new Black Panther, Shuri, as a result of the terrible circumstances surrounding Chadwick Boseman's premature death (Letitia Wright). She loses her mother, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), while still mourning the death of her brother in Namor's assault on Wakanda. Therefore, during her battle with Namor, Shuri must deal with her sadness and rage, but because she has already been to the underwater nation of Talokan, she is aware of their parallels. Namor also harbours resentment toward the colonising powers that reduced his people to slavery, toward America for seeking to steal their natural resources, and toward Wakanda for ostensibly assisting in this endeavour.
Namor is the ideal antagonist for Shuri's beginnings as Wakanda's new Black Panther because of their shared rage and anguish. Instead of ending their superhero origin stories with the dark mirror version as in earlier MCU films, Namor and Shuri instead acknowledge their similarities and decide to form an alliance. Fundamentally, Namor's complexity and an understandable purpose for his destructive activities are what make him such a brilliant villain.
When Will Namor Make His MCU Comeback?
It's unclear precisely when Tenoch Huerta will make a comeback as Namor, but Wakanda Forever's climax strongly suggests that the MCU hasn't seen the last of him. Namor's potential comeback in a number of upcoming MCU films is very likely given his mutant state, Talokan's availability of vibranium, and their tense partnership with Wakanda. The most obvious option would be Black Panther 3, which would strengthen the diplomatic ties between Talokan and Wakanda, maybe in response to a fresh threat facing both countries.
It is unknown exactly how much the Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), who had Everett Ross bugged, heard as she wanted Talokan kept a secret by Shuri and Wakanda. She probably overheard some of his conversations regarding Namor's blue-skinned Talokanils. As the head of the CIA, Valentina was prepared to get involved in Wakanda's politics in order to undermine the government and obtain vibranium. When given with a different supply of the valuable metal, she would very well send her Thunderbolts squad to Talokan, which would bring back Namor from Wakanda Forever as the villain battling the Thunderbolts' anti-heroes.
