Why We Won’t See This Famous Location In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Image Source: IGN.com
Since the announcement that ‘Namor the Submariner; would feature prominently in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, the Interwebs have been ablaze with questions. Will he be the first mutant, as in the comics? How pointy will his ears be? Will he be at war with Wakanda? Will he have tiny footie wings? (Confirmed, thankfully)
While the drip feeding of trailers and press releases has given us some insight and glimpses into Namor, one noticeable omission is Atlantis.
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Namor will hail from the undersea kingdom of ‘Talocan’ in the upcoming blockbuster, not Atlantis. We have seen from the trailers that Namor’s weapons, armour, and character design draw heavily from Aztec and Mayan mythology rather than the traditional Atlantean-Greek route we are familiar with.
There are some reasons why this might be the chosen path. While we see a departure from Atlantis in the comic books, there is an inspiration behind this in real-world mythology – Tlālōcān – an Aztec Paradise created and named after one of their gods and having ties with their afterlife. With the introduction of Valhalla in Thor: Love and Thunder, The Field of Dreams in Moon Knight, and even D’Jalia in the original Black Panther, it holds true that the Marvel powers that be are looking into different cultures’ depictions of mythology for Inspiration.
Image Source: Polygon
Secondly, Zeus and Hercules are now canon, so it may not suit the showrunners to potentially have crossover in Greek and Atlantean civilisations. One simply cannot mix Greek Gods with Atlantean Gods - how gauche!
Lastly, and perhaps more tangibly, Atlantis has been in the cultural zeitgeist for the last few years, with a certain Arthur Curry hailing from there. So it is not unreasonable to think that Marvel and the House of Mouse would like to distance themselves from DC’s sinking ship (see what I did there?) and not to confuse casual cinemagoers who may be wondering why Jason Momoa is looking a bit different.
Whatever the reason, and however they weave it in, one thing is sure. Namor, Talocan, Attuma, Shuri, Ramonda, Ironheart, and the rest of the gang; mean that Wakanda Forever will be a visual treat to behold.
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