Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Namor and the Talokans into the world of the MCU. And as per the latest piece of information, even the late King T’Challa actor Chadwick Boseman was excited about the introduction of the submariner. It can’t be denied that the MCU is quite successful in weaving the world and culture of the underwater kingdom. The audiences were mesmerized when the Atlantis-Esque kingdom was shown for the first time.
According to the director of the movie Ryan Coogler, Chadwick Boseman was excited about the idea of the Talokan since the day he heard about it. This adds another emotional layer to the movie as the fans never got to know how would the dynamics would have gone out if the movie featured King T’Challa against Namor.
Chadwick Boseman was heartily looking forward to the Talokan introduction
Chadwick Boseman, unfortunately, passed away in 2020 while fighting Colon Cancer. As a result of which, the sequel to the 2018 Ryan Coogler had a humongous task of giving justice to the late King T’Challa. While the movie is quite successful in that, it is also very efficient in showing the brand-new kingdom and culture of the Talokans in the MCU.
Based on the long-lost kingdom of the Aztec Legend, Talokan is an underwater kingdom very similar to Wakanda having its own rich culture and heritage. The kingdom ruled by Namor is one of the many visual extravaganzas in the movie.
According to the director Ryan Coogler, when Chadwick Boseman heard about his plans for the first time, he got very excited about this indigenous representation. As per the statements of the director in EW’s Around the Table series:
“That was something he was fired up about. I remember we were at a restaurant in Los Feliz the first time we talked about possibly having indigenous American representation in the film. He got the biggest smile, like, ‘They’re never going to see this coming. It’s awesome.'”
But sadly, Boseman never read the early drafts of the script of the movie. It was later figured out by Coogler that it was due to his deteriorating health.
The rest of the article contains spoilers from Black Panther 2
Namor and Talokan in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever really did an amazing task infusing Mexican culture into the MCU. When the MCU announced the change of the Atlantis kingdom to the Aztec-based Talokan civilization, many fans complained about it. But quite contradictorily, both the civilization and Tenoch Huerta’s performance as Namor shine throughout the movie.
The very first introduction of the kingdom with a track titled Con La Brisa playing in the background gives a fantastic as well as a realistic look at Talokan. Even the residents of the tribe and their styles were an homage to the ancient civilization and the details are extremely praiseworthy.
Now it can be well understood why Chadwick Boseman was so hyped about Talokan. With the character of Namor showing some positive change at the end of the movie, it will be exciting to watch more of him in the MCU. And as per producer Nate Moore, we might get to know more about the Talokans in the upcoming years and that will also answer if they will take the sides of the World’s Mightiest Heroes or not.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is running in theaters near you.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
