Namor Can Potentially Join 5 MCU Teams After Black Panther 2

After the confirmation that Namor is a mutant in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the potential exists for Tenoch Huerta’s MCU character to join five superhero teams. Plans for the movie indicate he’ll be a villain in Black Panther 2, but that doesn’t rule out the possibility of Namor redeeming himself and taking a heroic turn. After all, Namor has a long history as a hero in the comic books.

In addition to headlining well over a hundred of his own stories, Namor the Sub-Mariner has also been involved with a variety of Marvel Comics teams. Considering how important the Avenging Son is to the Marvel Universe, it’s not hard to imagine the studio deciding to adapt some of his comic arcs to the MCU after Black Panther 2. And with everything that he’s been a part of over the years, Marvel has no shortage of options of where it could go with the Sub-Mariner’s story when Phase 4 ends. In fact, he could evolve into one the Multiverse Saga’s biggest characters. Based on what’s known about his character, Huerta’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever villain is a candidate for a roster spot on five different teams.

The Avengers

In the 1980s, Namor was facing the life of a lonely wanderer when he lost the throne of Atlantis. An offer from Captain America saved him from this path and gave him a new purpose as an Avenger. Once a sworn enemy of the team, Namor proved to be a capable member of the group in dozens of adventures. For a few years, Namor fought beside heroes like Captain America, Black Knight, Wasp, Monica Rambeau and Hercules against a multitude of Marvel Comics villains. In fact, he was on the same team that fought Kang the Conqueror in the 1980s comic story titled “The Kang Dynasty”.

It's not outside the realm of possibility that Namor could wind up with the next iteration of the Avengers for the very same reason that he joined them in the comics. As a king responsible for looking after an entire civilization, Namor – in his current position – isn’t a good fit for most teams, but what happens in Wakanda Forever could change that forever. If Namor is removed from power, he could have the motivation he needs to accept a spot on the next Avengers team, possibly in time for the battle with Kang in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.

Fantastic Four

Although Marvel’s First Family is typically limited to its four most iconic characters, substitutes and additional members aren’t unprecedented in Marvel Comics. In the Silver Age, Namor was a major enemy of the team, an off-an-on partner-in-crime to Doctor Doom, and a rival to Mr. Fantastic for Invisible Woman’s affections. But as time passed, Namor gradually became less committed to his crusade against humanity, thus paving the way for alliances with the Fantastic Four. For years, he continued to be a staple of their stories and certainly feels like an MCU character who could appear in a Fantastic Four sequel as an ally to the heroes.

X-Men

Huerta’s comment about Namor being a mutant adds the Sub-Mariner to a long list of Marvel Comics characters whom the MCU could use to fill up the roster for its first-ever X-Men team. If the studio chooses to follow the comics and start off with a group of teenagers, Namor will most assuredly be avoided, but going with a more modern incarnation of the team would put him on the table. After decades of having minimum contact with the X-Men, Marvel used his mutant status to form a bridge between them in the 2000s. In the interest of protecting the mutant species, Namor made alliances with Emma Frost and Magneto to provide leadership for the mutants living on Utopia, which was set up to be their own private island.

As for an MCU version of an X-Men storyline for Namor, it could take years for Marvel to get to the point where the X-Men would have their own island, which is why Marvel may find another way to make it work. If Namor were to leave Atlantis after Black Panther 2, he could find a new home with the X-Men. As mutants, they could be the only people on the surface that an outsider like Namor could relate to in any meaningful way.

Defenders

The team with the most ties to the Sub-Mariner is the Defenders. In the beginning, the Defenders were a trio that consisted of three of the most powerful characters in Marvel Comics: Namor, Hulk, and Doctor Strange. The three original Defenders, in addition to Nighthawk and Valkyrie, are considered the principal members of the group. When they first started coming together, it was decided that they would be a “non-team”. In other words, they didn’t have rules, an official headquarters, a proper roster, or anything else that would be expected of a true superhero team. Instead, it was agreed upon that the Defenders would only gather when the world needed them.

After Black Panther 2, the MCU will be home to four of the five biggest characters associated with the Defenders. At any time after Phase 4, a future movie could offer a story where Namor, Valkyrie, Hulk, and Strange team up against a powerful new threat. Nighthawk could be introduced for that story, but Marvel could easily replace with him another street-level hero, such as Charlie Cox’s Daredevil. Mixing Daredevil with a classic Defenders lineup could actually be much better than Marvel simply reusing the team from the Netflix show.

Illuminati

As noted above, Namor’s obligations to his people are an obstacle toward him joining a superhero team, which is why Marvel might have an easier time associating him with the Illuminati than it would the Avengers or the X-Men. In the comics, Namor was one of several members of a secret cabal of Marvel Comics geniuses and high-profile leaders who had taken it upon themselves to make his decisions about the Earth’s future. A version of this team doesn’t exist in the MCU’s Earth-616, but Doctor Strange’s encounter with Earth-838’s Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could be enough to set them up. It’s possible that in the aftermath of Doctor Strange 2 (and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever), Doctor Strange will recruit Namor to make his own Illuminati group. Since he’d be able to join the Illuminati as a representative of Atlantis, the MCU can easily make him a member without taking him away from his kingdom.