Aquaman is the King of the Seven Seas in the world of the DC Universe, but he's not the only Atlantean royalty to come out of comic books. Another example is Marvel's Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who actually predated Aquaman's publication debut by two years.
King Namor McKenzie, a.k.a. the Sub-Mariner, is the ruler of Atlantis. Born as a hybrid mutant son of a human father and an Atlantean princess, Namor's first interaction with the human world came when he joined the Invaders to fight against the Axis powers during World War II.
The Silver Age Aquaman made his first appearance in Adventure Comics #260 (May 1959). In it and subsequent Silver Age comics, it was revealed that this Aquaman was Arthur Curry, the son of lighthouse keeper Tom Curry and Atlanna, a water-breathing outcast from the lost underwater city of Atlantis.
Traditionally, in the comic books, the character of Namor is the mutant son of a human sea captain and a princess of the mythical undersea kingdom of Atlantis, but in the film, his background and origin are changed to that of the King of Talokan, an ancient civilization of underwater dwelling people connected to the ...
Changing Namor's origin is actually a smart move for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Despite being linked to Atlantis since his introduction in the late 1930s, Marvel has apparently chosen to distance the Sub-Mariner from the mythical underwater city.
Aquaman Reveals The Kingdom of Atlantis to the World and Unites to Defeat All Common Enemies
Is Namor Aztec or Mayan?
The new trailer also revealed the new villain, Namor the Sub-Mariner played by Narcos: Mexico actor Tenoch Huerta but the Atlantian is re-imagined as a Mesoamerican figure - enter the Mayan and Aztec influence.
It was reported that Namor and Atlantis would be changed from the comics to reflect ancient Central American culture, being based mainly on the Mayans and ancient Aztecs, and the costume reveal for Namor especially proves this change to be true.
If Namor has an arch-villain, it is probably Attuma, a fellow Atlantean and ruthless warlord. He believes himself destined to conquer Atlantis, and he has attempted it on several occasions, succeeding more than once. During the most recent attempt, Attuma is stopped by Robert Reynolds, AKA Sentry, who kills him.
Loosely translated from Latin, it means "Empire King." As such, the line serves as a dynamic reference to the anti-hero's comics origins while also giving him an epic counter to the classic Wakandan phrase in the MCU. Related: Black Panther 2's MCU Timeline: How Long After Endgame Is It Set?
Namor and Aquaman have had instances of immense power in their respective comics, but Namor has the edge. Marvel's King of Atlantis has made Hercules bleed, held his own against the Avengers, and almost destroyed Wakanda with a devastating tidal wave.
Trivia. King Atlan was referred to as simply "Ancient Atlantean King" in the credits of Justice League, though he was later revealed to be Atlan. Vulko states that Atlan was the "first ruler of Atlantis" in Aquaman. Atlan is also king when Atlantis sinks, which means he was the last surface king.
Plato wrote that these ten rulers were the sons of Poseidon: Atlas, Gadeirus, Ampheres, Evaemon, Mneseus, Autochthon, Elasippus, Mestor, Azaes and Diaprepes. If you look carefully at the map, you can find each of these names, labelling the land Sanson was suggesting they might have ruled.
Atlantis was featured heavily in Aquaman where there are seven kingdoms that formed after the original Atlantis sank into the ocean: Atlantis, Xebel, the Kingdom of the Trench, the Kingdom of the Brine, the Kingdom of the Fishermen, the Kingdom of the Deserters, and a missing one.
Combined with his unique genes, Namor became the MCU's first mutant just as he is in the original comics. Beyond his pointed ears and wings on his ankles, it's confirmed that Namor can also take in oxygen from both the air and sea, hence the reason his skin doesn't turn blue on the surface like the rest of his kingdom.
Namor MacKenzie, the son of human Leonard MacKenzie and Atlantean Fen, became the superhuman Sub-Mariner in the early 20th Century. Fen died in a bombing on Atlantis, and Leonard, who was believed dead, eventually remarried and fathered another son, Lawrence, who in turn fathered Leon.
In the comics, Namor's powerset is a bit different. While he's still a mutant, his powers are the result of a union between the princess of the underwater kingdom Atlantis and sea captain Leonard McKenzie.
M'Baku notes that the people of Talocan do not refer to Namor as a general or king but instead call him the same name as the Feathered Serpent God. Kukulkan is the name of a serpent deity in several Mesoamerican religions.
A dying priest derisively called Almehen, "El Niño sin Amor", meaning "the child without love." Ch'ah Toh Almehen proceeded to take that as his name, Namor, as a warning to his enemies. This experience showed him how bad the surface world was and that he needed to protect his kind from it.
In the end, as Iron Man proved, Namor's biggest weakness can be exposed with pollution. Not only does polluting the ocean send the Sub-Mariner into an immediate fight-or-flight mode, but it also impacts his physiology as he draws his strength from the sea.
After binding with the Phoenix Force, Namor attacks Wakanda by flooding the nation, drowning hundreds in the process. However, he is soon defeated, thanks to the combined efforts of Captain America, Thor, and Scarlet Witch.
Even in his rage against the surface world, Namor found someone that he wanted. He became infatuated with Susan Storm, now known as Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman.
The leader of Atlantis unleashed a massive tidal wave on the country that killed countless people. Soon after, Namor lost his part of the Phoenix Force, and T'Challa made it clear he would never forgive the transgression.
Namor was among various major Marvel Comics' characters whose movie rights were sold to other studios, joining the ranks of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man. This meant that Marvel Studios couldn't produce a project featuring Namor, though the line has since been blurred.
