“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” certainly deviated from Namor's comic book origins while still remaining true to a lot of the character's traits, like a fiery temper, fierce loyalty to his people and a complete lack of concern for the labels of hero and villain. But there's one comic book story element that could be added in future installments to unnecessarily but hilariously make an unexpected film part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe canon.
I don't know if Stan Lee intended for the fourth issues of the series he wrote to bring back older characters or if it's just a coincidence that Namor resurfaced in May 1962's “Fantastic Four” #4, nearly two years before Captain America was thawed out in “Avengers” #4. Either way, it happened when Johnny Storm had left the FF after a fight with the Thing.
In the issue written by Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, the Torch ends up in a cheap hotel where a lot of down-on-their-luck New Yorkers congregate. While reading an old comic book about the exploits of the Sub-Mariner* Johnny is introduced to an amnesiac drifter who the other residents claim is as strong as Namor himself.
A brawl ensues when the drifter refuses to rip a phone book in half to show off his strength. The angry mob says they'll beat his memory back into him, but Johnny, in the uncharacteristic role of the voice of reason, says there's an easier way to figure out who he is... starting with a flaming shave and a haircut.
When the heated makeover is complete, Johnny recognizes the stranger as the actual Sub-Mariner, surely a testament to creator Bill Everett's artistic abilities. So, naturally he decides to drop the guy into the ocean to help him regain his memories.
Honestly, it's not a bad plan, but I feel like he could have explained it in advance and maybe obtained some informed consent first? There is a lot going on in this comic though, and Lee and Kirby didn't have time to choose logic over action. And, let's face it, the story is more fun because of it.
Anyway, Johnny's plan works, except he wasn't counting on Namor finding out his undersea kingdom had been destroyed by atomic testing, prompting him to attack the surface world with a giant, walking whale. The only thing possibly quenching his rage is his sudden adoration of Johnny's older sister, the Invisible Girl.**
Most minor of spoilers here: There's no mention of amnesia in Wakanda Forever.*** It didn't need to be; there's already a lot going on. But nothing in the movie really prevents that storyline from being picked up somewhere down the line. And if they do, it can provide the long-awaited link between the MCU and the 2003 sort-of classic “School of Rock.”
In the early part of Jason Aaron's run on “Avengers,” Namor leaned villain as much as he had since headlining “Super-Villain Team-Up” alongside Doctor Doom, and he did so sporting a new costume that instantly looked familiar to me.
It was eerily similar to the outfit worn by Spider, the guitarist who replaced Jack Black's Dewey Finn in the band No Vacancy in “School of Rock.”
This has stayed in my head. Maybe things didn't work out for Spider and the band, so he cast his outfit into the sea and Namor found it. Maybe Marvel Comics Namor secretly enjoys surface-world comedies and had an Atlantean tailor whip up a replica for him.
Or maybe the MCU Namor had a bout of amnesia, left his undersea kingdom, came ashore in New York, learned guitar, and joined an up-and-coming band in need of a new guitarist.
Perhaps we'll get confirmation of this in the upcoming Fantastic Four movie, although if we can have Ultron before Hank Pym, we certainly don't need the FF to make this story work. It might mean the Sub-Mariner is more fixated on a prep school principal played by Joan Cusack than Susan (Storm) Richards, but, hey, changes are often made in adaptations.
* - Lee and Kirby were meta before it was cool.
** - I'm not sexist; that's what she was called back then.
*** - Maybe they forgot.
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