In the closing moments of Ms. Marvel’s season finale on Disney Plus, Marvel Studios changed the course of the MCU forever. With a single line of dialogue, Marvel announced that Kamala Khan is indeed a mutant. It will probably be a few more years before the X-Men debut in the MCU, but in the meantime, expect to see more mutants. In fact, one mutant will apparently make his debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
A new mutant joins the MCU in Wakanda Forever
Tenoch Huerta, who plays Namor in Wakanda Forever, told Empire in a recent interview that his character will be a mutant in the MCU. Namor McKenzie, aka the Sub-Mariner, is the son of a human father and an Atlantean woman in the comics. He is often called “Marvel’s first mutant,” having existed long before the X-Men debuted.
Providing Huerta isn’t mistaken about his character’s identity, Namor should be the second mutant to exist in the MCU’s primary reality, joining Ms. Marvel. We did see Patrick Stewart reprise his role as Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but he was from Earth-838 and (spoilers) didn’t survive Wanda’s assault.
Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are mutants in Marvel Comics, but not in the movies. As such, there are only two living mutants in the MCU if we count Namor.
Wakanda Forever director Ryan Coogler also expressed to Empire how excited he was to take Namor off the page and bring him to the big screen:
The contrast between T’Challa and Namor – their characters, and their nations – just leaps off the page. He’s a dream antagonist.
According to Kevin Feige, Coogler almost introduced Namor in the first Black Panther:
Ryan had a pitch for a tag at the end of Black Panther. The camera would push through the palace in Wakanda, and then we’d see wet footprints leading up to the throne.
Coogler might not have gotten his post-credits scene, but he will have a chance to introduce one of Marvel’s oldest characters to the MCU. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is set to hit theaters and wrap up Phase 4 on November 11, 2022.
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