After the film itself at last arrived on streaming a week ago, Disney Plus has now unleashed the latest episode of making-of series Marvel Studios Assembled, which dives behind the scenes of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The hour-long special is a must-watch for any fans of the superhero sequel spectacular, especially the many Namor obsessives out there as the documentary finally clarifies what some might’ve been wondering about the Sub-Mariner.
In the final battle between the Black Panther (Letitia Wright) and the Talokan king (Tenoch Huerta), Shuri memorably gets an advantage over her enemy when she slices off one of his ankle wings, robbing the mutant merman of his flight. In the film’s Assembled special, fight coordinator Aaron Toney revealed that this was a concept brought to the table by his team as they were choreographing the fight.
The idea was given the approval, it seems, because it was understood by all that Namor’s wings would fully heal by the next time we saw him. So, don’t worry, Namor lovers, he’s going to be OK.
“But also, they said, can we rip the wings off?” Toney recalls in the special. “They grow back, he’ll be fine, but it gives you an opportunity to humanize this god-like character and make him come to her.”
While this confirmation may come as a relief to MCU viewers, those familiar with Namor from the comics probably wouldn’t have been too worried in the first place, given that he’s long been established to possess a mutant healing factor, along with his many other abilities. So, have no fear, Namor will be back to full strength wherever he shows up next in the franchise.
Wherever that is, it won’t be in his own solo movie, that’s for sure.