Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is ramping up for its release with an energy like never before; Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing in 2020 thrust the Black Panther sequel into a soft, scrutinized spotlight for a long while, but now, what was once a heavily-skewed future is now a triumphant present day for Wakanda Forever, in no small part for the recent homerun of a trailer that released earlier today.
Like the trailer before it, there’s no shortage of talking points, among them the juxtaposition between Wakanda and Talocan and the speculation around the near and distant futures of the Black Panther mantle (it looks as though the honor will be going to Shuri for now). But, perhaps a few eyebrows were raised when Namor was spotted fluttering in the sky via a pair of wings on his ankles.
For a character with such heavy ties to the ocean, the uninitiated may find it odd that the ruler of Talocan possesses the ability to fly through the air. For those in the know, however, this reveal was teased about a week ago.
Can Namor fly in the Marvel comics?
The simple answer is yes, Namor possesses the power of flight in the Marvel comic books, just as he does in the MCU, with both iterations boasting such a power thanks to the small wings found on his ankles.
It was about a week ago that Tenoch Huerta — who will be portraying Namor in Wakanda Forever — revealed that his character would be a mutant in the MCU canon, as he is in the comic books. It is in fact Namor’s mutation that gives him the power of flight, whilst the more subaquatic aspects of his power set are drawn from his Atlantean blood. So, for those of us familiar with the Namor of comic book yore, his recent reveal as the MCU’s next mutant quietly hinted that we’d be seeing him take to the skies during the movie.
We’ll have to see how Wakanda manages to deal with this new aerial threat, although it seems inevitable that one Riri Williams (aka Ironheart) will be taking on that responsibility.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will release to theaters on Nov. 11.