One of Marvel’s oldest characters makes his movie debut

Wally Wood’s cover for Daredevil No. 7 in 1965 with DD taking on Namor, a much more powerful foe

Wakanda Forever had a big opening this past weekend. The Marvel film was a sequel to 2018’s Black Panther. But with the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, major changes were made.

Still, Marvel used Wakanda Forever as a way to introduce Namor (Roman spelled backward), the Sub-Mariner to its cinematic universe.

Namor’s first appearance was in Marvel Comics No. 1 in 1939, published by Timely, a predecessor company of Marvel Comics. Namor was an antihero. He dwelled underwater and casually killed some divers from the surface world in the first story by writer-artist Bill Everett. He was part of an underwater race.

Over the next several years, Namor became an ally against the Germans in World War II. Eventually, Namor went away.

Until the 1960s, that is. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, early in the run of the Fantastic Four, brought Namor back. The character was wandering the New York City bowery, unable to remember who he was. But with his memory restored, Namor resumed his conflict with the surface world. Namor soon appeared in various Marvel titles. By the mid-1960s, he got his own story line in Tales to Astonish (a title he shared with the Hulk).

In Wakanda Forever, some changes have been made to Namor. It remains to be seen whether he’ll continue to be part of the MCU. Meanwhile, The New York Times provided a primer about Namor.